Recent Advances and Prospects of Indole Derivatives in the Discovery of New Agricultural Chemicals

Indole, as a unique natural scaffold structure, has attracted considerable attention in recent years in the discovery of agrochemicals. As a distinct molecular scaffold, indole offers multiple modifiable sites and is extensively used in the development of new pesticides, such as fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, and antibacterial agents. Additionally, some indole derivatives can interact with various biological targets, enabling effective control of pathogens, pests, and weeds. There has been a substantial amount of research reported on indole derivatives in the discovery of new agrochemicals, demonstrating their broad prospects in agrochemical discoveries. To update the latest research progress on indole derivatives, this work reviews the fungicidal, antibacterial, insecticidal, nematicidal, herbicidal, and antiviral activities of indole active compounds from the perspective of their chemical structures and mechanism of action. The structural modification characteristics and structure-activity relationship (SAR), and the mechanisms of action of indole active compounds are summarized. It is hoped that these insights will spark discussions among readers about indole derivatives in new agrochemical discoveries and provide inspiration and ideas for the discovery of new pesticides.