Pydiflumetofen belongs to the large family of SDHI pesticides, it is used as broad spectrum fungicide in agriculture to protect crops from fungal diseases.

The compound is an amide which combines a pyrazole acid with a substituted phenethylamine to give an inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase,[3] an enzyme that inhibits cellular respiration in almost all living organisms.

[5][6] By 2016, at least 17 further examples of this mechanism of action were developed by crop protection companies, with the market leader being boscalid, owing to its broader spectrum of fungal species controlled.

[9] Succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI) of this type act by binding at the quinone reduction site of the enzyme complex, preventing ubiquinone from doing so.

These include Alternaria, grey mould (Botrytis cinerea), Cercospora (leaf spot), septoria, powdery mildews (e.g. Uncinula necator), and scab (e.g. Venturia pyrina).

[17] Pydiflumetofen has low acute toxicity:[12]: 8  the Codex Alimentarius database maintained by the FAO lists the maximum residue limits for it in various food products.

[12]: 11–15  In one laboratory study, the R enantiomer of the compound was shown to be more toxic to zebrafish, which was interpreted to be owing to its higher potency as an SDHI inhibitor than the S isomer.