Abstract:Nerol and geraniol(Ⅰ), which are precursors of the two stereoisomers of citral, were first oxidized to their corresponding aldehydes(Ⅱ), respectively, and the aldehydes were further oxidized to their corresponding acids(Ⅲ). Then, terminal alkynyl esters(Ⅳ) were prepared by nucleophilic substitution reaction of the acids(Ⅲ) with bromopropyne, followed by Husigen cycloaddition reaction of the terminal alkynyl esters(Ⅳ) with a series of substituted azide compounds to yield twenty-six (Z)- and (E)-citral-based 1,2,3-triazole compounds(Ⅴa ~ m). All the target compounds were characterized by FTIR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and ESI-MS, and also evaluated for their antifungal activity. It was found that, at 50 μg/mL, the target compounds Ⅴa ~ m showed certain antifungal activity against the eight tested plant pathogens, including Colletotrichum lagenarium, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cucumerinum, Cercospora arachidicola, Physalospora piricola, Gibberella zeae, Alternaria solani, Helminthosporium maydis, and Rhizoctonia solani, in which (E)-citral-based p-bromobenzyl 1,2,3-triazole [(E)-Ⅴm], (E)-citral-based o-methylbenzyl 1,2,3-triazole [(E)-Ⅴb], and (Z)-citral-based m-methylbenzyl 1,2,3-triazole [(Z)-Ⅴc] had inhibition rates of 95.2% (A-class activity level, better than that of the positive control chlorothanil), 81.0% (B-class activity level), and 81.0% (B-class activity level), respectively, against Colleetotrichum lagenarium. Besides, compound (E)-Ⅴm had inhibition rate of up to 95.2% against Helminthosporium maydis (A-class activity level, better than that of the positive control chlorothanil). Therefore, the target compound (E)-Ⅴm is worthy of further investigation and expected to become a new candidate antifungal agent.