The three title compounds are centrosymmetric. Their packing features chains linked by either pairwise C—H⋯O or C—H⋯π inter­actions.

A series of five new 2-(1-benzofuran-2-yl)-2-oxoethyl 4-(un/substituted)benzoates 4(a-e), with the general formula of C8H5O(C=O)CH2O(C=O)C6H4X, X = H, Cl, CH3, OCH3 or NO2, was synthesized in high purity and good yield under mild conditions. The synthesized products 4(a-e) were characterized by FTIR, 16567These compounds were screened for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The tested compounds showed antimicrobial ability in the order of 4b < 4a < 4c < 4d < 4e and the highest potency with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) value of 125 µg/mL was observed for 4e. The results of antioxidant activities revealed the highest activity for compound 4e (32.62% ± 1.34%) in diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, 4d (31.01% ± 4.35%) in ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and 4a (27.11% ± 1.06%) in metal chelating (MC) activity.

A new series of seven 2-((pyridinylamino)methyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione derivatives were synthesized under mild condition and characterized by spectroscopy analysis. The crystal structures of these derivatives were further determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. All derivatives adopt a V-shape conformation. The dihedral angle between phthalimide and pyridine rings increases as the torsion angle C1–N1–C9–N2 between phthalimide ring and methylene group increases. The torsion angles and molecular conformations are comparable to those related structures from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). Furthermore, the intermolecular interactions of all studied crystal structures were quantified and analyzed using Hirshfeld surface (HS) analysis. The quantitative data on the percentage contributions of overall interactions in all compounds are calculated by the two-dimensional (2D) fingerprint plots from the HS analysis. These compounds were evaluated for their antioxidant and antityrosinase properties. Noteworthy, 2-(((6-methoxypyridin-3-yl)amino)methyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione (compound g) exhibited higher tyrosinase inhibitory activity (EC50=753 μg/mL) than the positive control ‘arbutin’ (EC50=403 μg/mL). The inhibitory effect of compound g was further confirmed by computational molecular docking studies and the result revealed the 6-methoxypyridin-3-yl substituent has a better binding affinity toward tyrosinase.

Supporting information: this article has supporting information at journals.iucr.org/eCrystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of (2E,2 0 0 0 E)-3,3 0 0 0 -(1,4-phenylene)bis[1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one]

The compounds 2-(1-benzofuran-2-yl)-2-oxoethyl 2-nitrobenzoate, C17H11NO6(I), and 2-(1-benzofuran-2-yl)-2-oxoethyl 2-aminobenzoate, C17H13NO4(II), were synthesized under mild conditions. Their molecular structures were characterized by both spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The molecular conformations of both title compounds are generally similar. However, differentortho-substituted moieties at the phenyl ring of the two compounds cause deviations in the torsion angles between the carbonyl group and the attached phenyl ring. In compound (I), theortho-nitrophenyl ring is twisted away from the adjacent carbonyl group whereas in compound (II), theortho-aminophenyl ring is almost co-planar with the carbonyl group. In the crystal of compound (I), two C—H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into chains propagating along thec-axis direction and the chains are interdigitated, forming sheets parallel to [20-1]. Conversely, pairs of N—H...O hydrogen bonds in compound (II) link inversion-related molecules into dimers, which are further extended by C—H...O hydrogen bonds into dimer chains. These chains are interconnected by π–π interactions involving the furan rings, forming sheets parallel to theacplane.