Safranal is an organic compound isolated from saffron oil. Photo epoxidation and thermal reactions of safranal can be a significant tool for the design of drugs to act as anticancer agents and potent chemoprevention. Safranal was subjected to oxidation reactions either thermally using m-chloroperbenzoic acid or photochemically with hydrogen peroxide. Photo chemically and thermally oxidation reaction gave the corresponding monoepoxy together with diepoxy derivatives. The primary tested of epoxide derivatives showed a moderate degree of DNA alkylation. Studies on the antimicrobial, especially Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), showed high activity of safranal diepoxide (3) against the growth of bacteria Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) more than safranal (1) and monoepoxide (2) respectively. The epoxidation products were tested against bacterium Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Keywords: Monoterpene; Photo epoxidation; Safranal; Staphylococcus aureus; Thermal; m-Chloloperbenzoic acid.