High concentration dinotefuran formulations

Abstract

A topical insecticide is provided which can be safe to use and avoids many common deleterious side effects of conventional topical insecticides. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the active ingredient of the insecticide formulation is an amine derivative, having a nitro-methylene group, a nitroamino group or a cyanoamino group, which can be formulated to have low toxicity and excellent insecticidal activity. One particularly suitable insecticide is 1-{(tetrahydro-3-furanyl)methyl}-2-nitro-3-methylguanidine (dinotefuran), an aldulticide that will kill adult fleas dissolved in ethyl lactate.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 411,720, filed Apr. 11, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 242,550, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,374, U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 242,551, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,223 and U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 242,552, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,030, all of which were filed Sep. 12, 2002. Priority is claimed to all of the applications listed above, which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to insecticides and more particularly to a topical insecticide, such as one suitable to use on house pets such as cats and dogs. [0003] The infestation of animals with fleas, ticks, flies and the like is highly undesirable. Accordingly, it has become common to administer both topical and internal insecticides to livestock and pets. Topical applications can be desirable, in that many insecticides are acceptably safe when used topically, b...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] Active ingredients and insecticides in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention are generally available as crystals and solids. Therefore, they need to be dissolved or otherwise put into a liquid form for use as topical spot products on animals. Topical spot products are more advantageous if the amount of liquid applied can be minimized. This must be balanced with the need for appropriate dosage to achieve the desired insecticidal effect. Therefore, it is desirable to use a solvent that will allow the solubilization of a high concentration of insecticide. It has been determined that ethyl lactate is a particularly useful solvent for forming dinotefuran containing compositions. Compositions containing ethyl lactate in combination with water and / or alcohols are also advantageous.

[0009] It is also desirable that the resulting formulation be stable. For example, it should not exhibit crystallization when stored at 0° F. and 40° F. for 1 month and longer. This is important because these conditions can be met in commerce. The crystallization would reduce the amount of insecticide in solution and reduce the efficacy of the solution applied to the animal.

[0011] Methoprene is an insecticide that acts as an insect growth regulator that prevents flea eggs from hatching. It was unexpectedly determined that methoprene can act as a solubility enhancer for amine derivative insecticides such as dinotefuran, discussed above. For example, the addition of methoprene to the dinotefuran formulations with phenyl methanol allowed the preparation of more highly concentrated solutions of dinotefuran that do not crystallize at 0° F.

Problems solved by technology

The crystallization would reduce the amount of insecticide in solution and reduce the efficacy of the solution applied to the animal.

Images