Chemical synthesis, redox transformation, and identification of sonnerphenolic C, an antioxidant in Acer nikoense

Synthesis, structural revision, and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of proposed phloretin-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside from Homalium stenophyllum

Phloretin-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), isolated from Homalium stenophyllum, was synthesized for the first time through aldol condensation and Schmidt glycosylation reactions aiming to develop a novel hydrophilic tyrosinase inhibitor. However, the specific rotation of synthetic 1 was found to be negative and different from that reported for natural product 1. Thus, L-glucoside 2 was chemically synthesized using the established synthetic route of 1, suggesting that the configuration of the natural product 1 was the same as that of 2, as their specific rotation and spectroscopic data were also the same. In addition, the evaluation of the inhibitory activity of 1 and 2 against tyrosinase indicated that 2 was 1.4 times more potent than 1, but they were both relatively weak. Therefore, the enantiomeric analogues 1 and 2 were proved to be unique tyrosinase inhibitors due to the chiral recognition from the tyrosinase active site.

Chemical synthesis and tyrosinase-inhibitory activity of isotachioside and its related glycosides

Isotachioside (1) and its related natural product 2 are isolated from Isotachis japonica and Protea neriifolia, respectively, and are categorized as analogs of arbutin (3), a tyrosinase inhibitor for practical use. Both of the natural products and several derivatives such as glucoside 4, xyloside 5, cellobioside 6, and maltoside 7 were synthesized via Schmidt glycosylation as a key step, and their tyrosinase inhibitory activity was evaluated. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 1-3 could not be determined even when the concentration was increased to 1000 μM. Contrastingly, glycosides 4-7, missing methyl and benzoyl groups, acted as tyrosinase inhibitors with IC₅₀s of 417 μM, 852 μM, 623 μM, and 657 μM, respectively. Among these novel inhibitors, derivative 4 was the most potent, indicating that the structural combination of resorcinol and glucose was significant for inducing the inhibitory effect.