A total of 20 esters of fraxinellone C4/10-oxime were synthesized and determined by melting points, optical rotation, infrared spectra, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, and high-resolution mass spectrometry spectra. Two steric configurations of compounds 7i and 8i were unambiguously confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Additionally, their pesticidal activities were assessed on two typical lepidopteran pests, Mythimna separata Walker and Plutella xylostella Linnaeus. Generally, all compounds exhibited less potent oral toxicity than toosendanin against third-instar larvae of P. xylostella. However, all compounds showed the growth inhibitory property against early third-instar larvae of M. separata. Notably, compounds 7m, 8b, 8k, 9, and 11 displayed more potent pesticidal activity than toosendanin. This demonstrated that introducing the C-4 carbonyl or oxime group on fraxinellone resulted in more promising derivatives than those bearing a C-10 carbonyl or oxime substituent.

In continuation of our program aimed at the discovery and development of compounds with superior anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) activity, 21N-arylsulfonyl-3-acetylindole analogs (2a–u) were synthesized and preliminarily evaluated as HIV-1 inhibitors in vitro. Among of all the analogs, several compounds exhibited significant anti-HIV-1 activity, especially N-phenylsulfonyl-3-acetyl-6-methylindole (2j) and N-(p-ethyl)phenylsulfonyl-3-acetyl-6-methylindole (2n) showed the most potent anti-HIV-1 activity with EC50 values of 0.36 and 0.13 μg/mL, and TI values of >555.55 and 791.85, respectively. It demonstrated that introduction of the acetyl group at the 3-position of N-arylsulfonyl-6-methylindoles could generally lead to the more potent analogs.It demonstrated that introduction of the acetyl group at the 3-position of N-arylsulfonyl-6-methylindoles could generally lead to the more potent analogs.