A facile approach towards the synthesis of functionalized indenol derivatives identified as potent anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial agents

Abstract

 

 An elegant one-pot synthesis of new indenols 2 was successfully carried out, starting from 1-hydroxy-1H-indene-2-carboxylic acid 1. Thus, esterification of acid 1 with aliphatic alcohols in toluene at reflux and a catalytic amount of para-toluenesulfonic acid afforded the corresponding alkyl esters 2 in moderate to good yields. This classical esterification process enables an efficient entry to a variety of new indenol-based molecular models 2, which could be adapted to a range of drug candidates. All the synthesized compounds 2a-e were subjected to the preliminary evaluation for their potential anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial activities. The assessment of radical scavenging capacity of the compounds 2a-e towards the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was measured and these compounds were found to scavenge DPPH free radical efficiently. Moreover, the in vitro antibacterial activity of derivatives 2a-e has been tested against a panel of pathogenic agents to show potent activity against all sensitive and resistant ones.