It was synthesized nine polyoxygenated chalcones with a potential and safe use as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapies. Chalcones obtained by Claisen-Schmidt condensation were studied as antioxidant, inhibitors of human 5-lipoxygenase, antifungal, antibacterial and antibiotic resistance modifiers. Two chalcones with catecholic moieties were able to strongly decrease the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of methicillin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, increase the antiradical activity and significantly inhibit the human 5-lipoxygenase. Only one of these chalcones was active synergistically with methicillin. Chalcones with methoxyl substituents at different positions displayed the best activities against Cryptococcus neoformans. Only one chalcone showed good activity against the plant pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae whose half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) value (2.5 µg mL-1) was similar to that observed with the antibiotic streptomycin (2.9 µg mL-1). These simple chalcones have safe potential uses in antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapies.

The synthesis of twenty six prenylated phenols derivatives is reported. These compounds were obtained under mild conditions via Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution (EAS) coupling reactions between phenol derivatives containing electron-donor subtituents and 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol using BF3·OEt2. Dialkylations were also produced with this method. The formation of a chroman ring by intramolecular cyclization between a sp2 carbon from the prenyl group with the hydroxyl substituent in the ortho position occurred with some phenols. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated as antioxidants according to a DPPH radical scavenging activity assay. IC50 values of five synthesized compounds indicated they were as good antioxidants as Trolox™.

The known geranylhydroquinone 2, geranylorcinol 4 and the derivative (E)-4-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-5-methylbenzene-1,3-diol 5, were prepared by Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution (EAS) reactions between the corresponding phenol derivatives containing electron-donor subtituents and geraniol using BF 3 ×OEt 2 as a catalyst. In addition, spectroscopic NMR information for 4 and 5 is complemented. Furthermore, the new (E)-2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl) benzene-1,3,5-triol (geranylphloroglucinol) 13, (E)-2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene 14, (E)-2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-6-methoxyphenol 15, (E)-3-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-2-methoxyphenol 16, (E)-5-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-2-methoxyphenol 17, (E)-4-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)benzene-1,3-diol 18, (E)-3-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)benzene-1,2-diol 19, (E)-4-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-5-isopropyl-2-methylphenol 20, (E)-2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-4-isopropyl-3-methylphenol 21, (E)-2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-4-isopropyl-5-methylphenol 22, and(E)-2-tert-butyl-4-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl)-5-methylphenol 23 were also prepared with this synthesis strategy. All the synthesized compounds were fully characterized and their structures were established by IR, MS and mainly NMR spectroscopic dates.

Prenylated flavonoids are an important class of naturally occurring flavonoids with important biological activity, but their low abundance in nature limits their application in medicines. Here, we showed the hemisynthesis and the determination of various biological activities of seven prenylated flavonoids, named 7–13, with an emphasis on antimicrobial ones. Compounds 9, 11, and 12 showed inhibitory activity against human pathogenic fungi. Compounds 11, 12 (flavanones) and 13 (isoflavone) were the most active against clinical isolated Staphylococcus aureus MRSA, showing that structural requirements as prenylation at position C-6 or C-8 and OH at positions C-5, 7, and 4′ are key to the antibacterial activity. The combination of 11 or 12 with commercial antibiotics synergistically enhanced the antibacterial activity of vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, and methicillin in a factor of 10 to 100 times against drug-resistant bacteria. Compound 11 combined with ciprofloxacin was able to decrease the levels of ROS generated by ciprofloxacin. According to docking results of S enantiomer of 11 with ATP-binding cassette transporter showed the most favorable binding energy; however, more studies are needed to support this result.

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