Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Scutellarein Alkyl Derivatives as Preventing Neurodegenerative Agents with Improved Lipid Soluble Properties

Exogenous antioxidants are considered as a promising therapeutic approach to treat neurodegenerative diseases since they could prevent and/or minimize the neuronal damage by oxidation.Three series of lipophilic compounds structurally based on scutellarein (2), which is one metabolite of scutellarin (1) in vivo, have been designed and synthesized.Their antioxidant activity was evaluated by detecting the 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) produced in the ferrous salt/ascorbate-induced autoxidation of lipids, which were present in microsomal membranes of rat hepatocytes. The lipophilicity of these compounds indicated as partition coefficient between n-octanol and buffer was investigated by ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometer.This study indicated that compound 5e which had a benzyl group substituted at the C4'- OH position showed a potent antioxidant activity and good lipophilicity.5e could be an effective candidate for preventing or reducing the oxidative status associated with the neurodegenerative processes.