Succinate-cytochrome c reductase (SCR) is composed of a mixture of mitochondrial complex II (succinate-ubiquinone oxidoreductase) and complex III (cytochrome bc₁ complex). Meanwhile, complexes II and III are two promising targets of numerous antibiotics and fungicides. With an aim to identify new lead structures for SCR, complex II or III, a new series of 4-aryloxy-N-arylanilines were synthesized by introducing a 4-aryloxy phenyl group as one of the aryl groups in diaryl amines. With the economic Cu(OAc)₂·H₂O as the optimal copper promoter, a simple and facile protocol was utilized to afford 24 target products in 56–93% yields. Furthermore, extensive screening results suggested variable inhibitory activities of these compounds against SCR. Exceptionally, compounds 7k–7n showed excellent inhibition potency with their IC₅₀ values in the nanomolar range, demonstrating higher potency than the commercial controls (penthiopyrad and azoxystrobin) by over one order of magnitude.

琥珀酸-细胞色素c还原酶（SCR）由线粒体复合物II（琥珀酸-泛醌氧化还原酶）和复合物III（细胞色素bc ₁复合物）的混合物组成。同时，复合物II和III是众多抗生素和杀真菌剂的两个有希望的靶标。为了鉴定用于SCR，络合物II或III的新的铅结构，通过引入4-芳氧基苯基作为二芳基胺中的芳基之一，合成了一系列新的4-芳氧基-N-芳基苯胺。具有经济性的Cu（OAc）₂ ·H ₂作为一种最佳的铜促进剂，O被用作一种简单易行的方案，以56-93％的产率提供了24种目标产物。此外，广泛的筛选结果表明这些化合物对SCR的抑制活性不同。例外地，化合物7k - 7n在纳摩尔范围内的IC ₅₀值显示出优异的抑制效能，比商用对照品（苯硫吡喃和嘧菌酯）的效能高出一个数量级。