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The chemical, DFDT, could have an impact combating disease-carrying mosquitoes while causing less environmental damage than the chemically similar DDT. American scientists previously looked into the insecticide in the 1940s, but it was lost in the chaos following World War II, likely due to its ties to the Nazi regime. Chemistry researchers had been examining the insecticide DDT, known for its devastating environmental effects. They made some changes to DDT’s crystal structure by swapping out chlorine atoms for fluorine, and tested the new chemical, known as DFDT, on fruit flies and mosquitoes. DFDT killed mosquitoes — including species that carry...

In continuing to explore the crystal structure of insecticides, the research team began studying fluorinated forms of DDT, swapping out chlorine atoms for fluorine. They prepared two solid forms of the compound—a monofluoro and a difluoro analog—and tested them on fruit flies and mosquitoes, including mosquito species that carry malaria, yellow fever, Dengue, and Zika. The solid forms of fluorinated DDT killed insects more quickly than did DDT; the difluoro analog, known as DFDT, killed mosquitoes two to four times faster. The researchers also made a detailed analysis of the relative activities of the solid-state forms of fluorinated DDT, noting...