Becker, D., Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
Sahali, Y., Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
Raviv, M., Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel, Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Agric. Res. Org., Newe Ya'ar, P.O. Haifa 31999, Israel

16-Heptadecyn-1,2,4-triol is the most active component of the avocado rooting promoter (ARP). All four diastereoisomers of this compound have been synthesized. Their root promoting activity was determined over the physiologically active concentration range. It was found that the (2R,4R)-stereoisomer exerts a rooting activity similar to that of the extracted and purified compound from avocado tissues. The (2R,4S), and (2S,4R)-stereoisomers had lower activity and the (2S,4S)-stereoisomer had the lowest activity. It is concluded that the natural form, (2R,4R), acts in the rooting process either in its original structure or after reaction which does not alter its chiral centres. © 1990.