Synthesis of flavonoid-type compounds from methyl dehydroabietates

The synthesis of new flavone-type compounds bearing several chiral centres, 12- and 14-(2'-chromonyl)dehydroabietates, are reported. This synthesis started from the aldol condensation of methyl 12- and 14-formyldehydroabietates with 2'-hydroxyacetophenones in order to prepare the corresponding chalcone-type compounds, which were then transformed in the expected flavone-type compounds by cyclodehydrogenation with DMSO and a catalytic amount of iodine. All compounds were exhaustively characterised by NMR and MS techniques.FCT/FEDER - Organic Chemistry Research UnitFCT/FEDER - PRAXIS XXI/BD/15786/9

Chromone: A valid scaffold in medicinal chemistry

Chromones are a group of naturally occurring compounds that are ubiquitous in nature, especially in plants. The word chromone is derived from the Greek word chroma, meaning “color”, which point out that many chromone derivatives can exhibit a diversity of colors.This work was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal (projects PTDC/QUI-QUI/113687/2009 and PEst-C/QUI/UI0081/2013). A.G. (SFRH/BD/43531/2008) and M.J.M. (SFRH/BD/61262/2009) thank FCT for grants