Benzoic acid N,N-diethylamide (R-2) as a repellent against blood-sucking flies
Potapov, A.A.; Vorob'eva, Z.G.; Vladimirova, V.V.; Kharitonova, S.I.; Koshkina, I.V.
Meditsinskaia Parazitologiia i Parazitarnye Bolezni 41(2): 185-189
1972
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-8326 PMID: 5042558 Document Number: 52856
The N,N-diethylamide of benzoic acid (R-2) is a colourless fluid with a faint odour and a boiling point of 103-105 deg C, and is obtained by a reaction between benzoyl chloride and diethylamine. The compound was studied in the USA and the Soviet Union in the 1950's but was found unacceptable, principally on account of the irritation it causes to skin. In large-scale trials the vapour of the compound was found to be strongly repellent to mosquitos, Simuliids, Tabanids and house-flies [Musca domestica L.], and more so than many well-known repellents. Its use as a repellent is recommended for treatment of clothing, particularly net coverings for the head, and net shirts. The persistence of the repellent effect is greater than that of dimethyl phthalate but less than that of deet. When the compound was tested on net covers under production conditions, it was as tolerable as deet.