Novel pyrano [3,2-b]xanthen-7(2H)-ones: Synthesis, antimicrobial, antioxidant and molecular docking studies

A simple, efficient, and eco-friendly synthetic protocol has been developed for the synthesis of pyranoxanthenes via one pot three-component reaction. This reaction is between aromatic aldehyde, 2,2-dimethylchroman-7-ol and 1,3-cyclohexanedione by using molecular iodine in AcOH as a reaction medium under microwave irradiation. Utilizing this protocol a variety of xanthene derivatives were synthesized in excellent yields. The synthesized compounds were established based on the spectral data and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 6f. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The results clearly demonstrated that compounds 6j, 6m and 6n exhibited significant antibacterial activity against bacterial strains. The results of the molecular docking studies supported the antibacterial activity of the synthesized compounds.