Biocatalytic synthesis of flavonoid of derivatives with potential antioxidant

• Grant number: 13/12385-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Patrícia de Oliveira Carvalho
• Grantee: Yollanda Edwirges Moreira Franco
• Host Institution: Universidade São Francisco (USF). Campus Bragança Paulista. Bragança Paulista , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Epidemiological studies and clinical trials in humans show that flavonoids have important effects in the chemoprevention of cancer and chemotherapy and potential for use in anti-cancer treatment. On that basis flavonoids may be promising molecules to serve as prototypes for the development of substances to combat carcinogens. Earlier reports on the group show that the biotransformation of glycosylate flavonoids is capable of boosting the biological action of these compounds thereby arousing interest in synthesizing and assessing new flavonoid derivatives. In the present project the new derivatives will be biosynthesized using acylation (lipases) and deglycosylation (rhamnosidases) reactions and any improvement in their biological (antioxidant and anti-tumor) properties will be evaluated together with their cytotoxicity in vitro. The biotransformation reactions will be conducted on a laboratory bench, and the joint effects of the reaction variables on the rate of conversion will be investigated by using an experimental design that incorporates surface response methodology. For the acylation reactions, ionic liquids will be tested as substitutes for the organic solvents. Antioxidant activity of the compounds before and after conversion will be assessed by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging analysis.