Copper‐Driven Formation of Prothioconazole Nanocomplex: An Innovative Strategy to Prepare Nanopesticide with Improved Bioactivity and Reduced Environmental Impacts

Abstract Developing cost‐effective, energy‐saving, and eco‐friendly methods to construct nanopesticides fulfill the requirement of modern agriculture. Benefiting from the versatility of metal‐based complexes, a facile copper‐driven method is discovered for the formation of a fungicide prothioconazole nanocomplex (Cu‐Pro) with the particle size of ≈300 ± 85 nm. Interestingly, adding 0.5–1% of anionic surfactants could generate nanocomplexes within 60 ± 12 nm and form stable dispersed nanosuspensions. Both nanocomplexes exhibit remarkable control efficacy against six plant pathogenic fungi, and the EC 50 values are 1.4–4.8 times lower than that of prothioconazole technical concentrate (Pro TC). In addition, the novel nanocomplexes demonstrate better resistance against UV irradiation and the half‐lives are 3.27‐ and 1.56‐times longer than that of Pro TC, respectively. The acute toxicity of prothioconazole nanocomplexes against non‐target organism zebrafish is decreased. Due to the small size and chelation with metals, the uptake and accumulation of prothioconazole in wheat plant is promoted, and the metabolites prothioconazole‐desthio is significantly decreased by 42–48% than that of Pro TC. This metal coordination‐based strategy seeks to open a new avenue for the high‐throughput preparation of nanopesticides, providing an innovative toolbox for reducing the input of agrochemicals in sustainable plant protection.