Strigolactones are plant hormones that stimulate germination of Striga hermonthica, a major agricultural pest in Africa. A small-molecule called DL1 was discovered to inhibit strigolactone signaling. I studied the structure-activity relationship of DL1, then designed and chemically synthesized over 40 DL1 derivatives to create stronger inhibitors. This ultimately led to the synthesis of a novel inhibitor nearly 4.5x stronger than DL1. This potent inhibitor is now being studied as an agrochemical to control Striga germination.