The design and discovery of novel pesticidal agents according to bioactive natural products is an important aspect of agrochemical innovation. New xanthine derivatives derived from natural xanthine or methylxanthines are rich resources that possess great potential to afford new active pesticidal molecules. Herein novel xanthine derivatives were designed through a strategy of combining the methylxanthine caffeine skeleton with the acrylamide or acrylate motif of cinnamic acid derivatives.A series of novel (E)-3-(1,3,7-trimethyl-2,6-dioxo-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-purin-8-yl)acrylic acid derivatives, caffeine-(E)-acrylamides and caffeine-(E)-acrylates, were synthesized and confirmed via melting points,Compounds I12, I18, I24 and I26 generated from the integration of natural methylxanthine (caffeine) and acrylate moieties could be novel insecticidal leading compounds for further structural optimization. The SAR analysis may bring a new inspiration to the extensive and deep investigations on new xanthine derivatives in the agrochemical area.