Synthesis and herbicidal evaluation of novel benzothiazole derivatives as potential inhibitors of D1 protease.

D1 protease is a C-terminal processing protease that has been predicted to be an ideal herbicidal target. Three novel series of benzothiazole derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their herbicidal activities against Brassica napus (rape) and Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass). The preliminary bioassay indicated that most of the synthesized compounds possess promising D1 protease inhibitory activities and considerable herbicidal activities. Molecular docking was performed to position representative compounds into the active site of D1 protease to determine a probable binding model.