In order to find highly active pesticide, three series of 5-(substituted amino)-12-substituent- benzo[c]phenanthridine derivatives were synthesized through the reaction of 2-methylbenzonitrile with dif-ferent aldehyde, and further dehydration with DDQ or N-methylation with NaH and CH3I, respectively. Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR spectra and HRMS, and the structure of 5-amino-12-(4-diethylaminophenyl)-11,12-2H-benzo[c]phenanthridine hydrochloride (3c) was determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction method. The preliminary bioassay showed that some title compounds ex-hibited certain fungicidal activities and cucumber cotyledon root-formation promoting activities.

Key words: benzo[c]phenanthridine, crystal structure, biological activity, synthesis