Structure—activity relationships of organotin biocides and Ceratocystis ulmi

The effect of organotin compounds on the growth of Ceratocystis ulmi, the causative agent of Dutch elm disease, was studied in shake culture. Triphenyltin, (C6H5)3SnX, tricyclohexyltin, (C6H11)3SnX, and tributyltin, (C4H9)3SnX, compounds were all effective in the inhibition of C. ulmi in vitro. The anionic group, X, did not play a major role in the inhibitory activities of these compounds, suggesting that the species involved in the inhibition is R3Sn+ or the hydrated cation.