Pest Management with Natural Products

Natural products for pest control is not a new concept – products from nature have been used to control pests since the early beginning of agriculture circa 8000 B.C. to repel or kill biting arthropods. Throughout the years, natural products have played a direct role in controlling weeds, insects, plant pathogens and nematodes in the field, or indirectly as leads for development of modern pesticides through chemical syntheses. In addition to classic natural products chemistries for pest management there has been increased interest in the use of volatile natural products for pest management in agriculture. Hence, the two-day symposium of Natural Products for Pest Management honoring the work and contributions of the late Dr. Horace (Hank) Cutler as part of the Agrochemicals Division (AGRO) program at the ACS national meeting in Philadelphia in 2012, was very timely and provided an excellent opportunity to learn about past and present projects of natural products chemistry laboratories in academia, government, and industry. This introduction provides a brief and informative look at the varying topics discussed at the AGRO division symposium on natural products. The compilations range from current research on hot topics and glimpses into past discoveries, to in-depth reviews on important topics in natural products. More importantly, this ACS symposium series book provides researchers of all disciplines with a practical approach for the management of pests, urban or agricultural, using natural products