Pyrabactin
Pyrabactin is a synthetic sulfonamide that mimics abscisic acid (ABA), a naturally produced stress hormone in plants that helps them cope with drought conditions by inhibiting growth. ABA can be manufactured for agricultural use; however, ABA is light-sensitive and costly to make. Pyrabactin is relatively inexpensive, easy to make, and not sensitive to light. Unlike ABA, pyrabactin activates only a few of the 14 ABA receptors in the plant needed for effective drought tolerance.[2] Its role as an ABA mimic may make pyrabactin an important tool for protecting crops against drought and cold weather.[3][4]
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Names | |
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IUPAC name
4-Bromo-N-(2-pyridinylmethyl)-1-naphthalenesulfonamide | |
Other names
4-Bromo-N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide | |
Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) |
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ChemSpider | |
ECHA InfoCard | 100.212.933 |
PubChem CID |
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CompTox Dashboard (EPA) |
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Properties | |
C16H13BrN2O2S | |
Molar mass | 377.26 g·mol−1 |
Appearance | White to off-white powder[1] |
Solubility in DMSO | >10 mg/mL[1] |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). | |
Infobox references | |
The discovery of pyrabactin by Sean Cutler was named a breakthrough research of 2009 by Science magazine.[5]
Pyrabactin (for pyridyl containing ABA activator) is a naphthalene sulfonamide hypocotyl cell expansion inhibitor. A combination of genetic, transcriptomic and physiological evidence demonstrated that pyrabactin activates the ABA pathway in a manner very similar to ABA. As such, pyrabactin is the first ABA agonist that is not an ABA analog and may ultimately lead to the development of a new family of synthetic plant growth regulators.