Chlorotrimethylsilane catalyzed synthesis of 1,3-diphenyl-2-propenones and their antimicrobial activities

The base- or acid-catalyzed Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction is the common synthetic route for the synthesis of 1,3-diphenyl-2-propenone (known as chalcone). A variety of different synthetic pathways have been used over the decades in the synthesis of chalcone. Microwave irradiation in absence of solvent is employed successfully and presented here with prominent improvement over the existing methods. The reaction is incredibly accelerated in the presence of the catalyst chlorotrimethylsilane (CTMS) and found superior in terms of reaction time, product yield, safer synthetic route, and easy removal of catalyst etc. Products were characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to determine crystal structures. All compounds were treated for antimicrobial activity. The profound response against bacteria and fungus pathogens by these compounds is impressive and opens up opportunities for further physiological activity studies.