Synthesis, structural characterisation and biological evolution of chromanones

Four new chromanone derivatives (4a-d) are synthesized and evaluated for their DNA binding, cleavage and antioxidant activities. The synthesized compounds are characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry, UV-Visible, thermal and fluorescence spectral studies. Finally, structures of the compounds 4a and 4b are confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction method. The DNA binding study is carried out by electronic absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. The observation from the results is that the chromanone derivatives 4a-d binds to CT-DNA in an intercalation mode. The DNA cleavage studies are investigated using supercoiled pET28a plasmid DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis. These studies reveal that the compounds act as efficient cleaving agents even in the absence of an oxidative agent H2O2. The antioxidant studies of these compounds in vitro are evaluated and compared with that of standard drug ascorbic acid (AA).