Aim: To design new thiazolidin-4-ones derivatives and to evaluate their potential antioxidant effects using in vitro methods.
Material and methods: New ethyl esters of the 2-(R-phenyl)-4-oxo-thiazolidin-3-yl propionic acid were synthesized using "one step reaction" between different aromatic aldehydes, thioglycolic acid and beta-alanine ethyl ester hydrochloride. The antioxidant potential of the synthesized compounds was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging assay and phosphomolybdenum method.
Results: Eight thiazolidine-4-one derivatives were obtained in good yields and high purity. The structure of the synthesized compounds was confirmed using IR spectroscopy. The evaluation of antioxidant activity showed that 2-[(4-NO2)-phenyl]-4-oxo-thiazolidin-3-yl propionic acid ethyl ester (compound 16) was the most active compound. For this derivative the DPPH radical scavenger activity (I% = 91.63% +/- 0.77) and the total antioxidant capacity (absorbance = 1.0691 +/- 0.0763) were similar with that of ascorbic acid used as standard antioxidant.
Conclusions: The antioxidant activity of the thiazolidine-4-one derivatives depends on the nature of the phenyl ring substituents, the NO2 and OH radicals having the most significant influence.