Natural products as herbicides

Plants and microbes contain a largely unexploited storehouse of phytotoxins that might be used directly or as structural indicators for new synthetic herbicides. Several factors have increased the interest of the herbicide industry in this source of natural products as herbicides. Natural compounds have made a large impact in the area of insecticides, whereas relatively minor successes have been obtained with these compounds as herbicides. The number of options that must be considered in the discovery and development of a natural product as a herbicide is larger than for a synthetic herbicide. Furthermore, the molecular complexity, limited environmental stability, and low herbicidal activity of many phytotoxic natural products are discouraging. However, advances in chemistry and biotechnology are increasing the speed and ease with which we can discover and develop natural products as herbicides.