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Review
. 2024 May 9;9(20):21706-21726.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c00771. eCollection 2024 May 21.

Biological and Medicinal Properties of Natural Chromones and Chromanones

Alexandra Gaspar  1 , E Manuela P J Garrido  2 , Fernanda Borges  1 , Jorge M P J Garrido  2
Affiliations
Review

Biological and Medicinal Properties of Natural Chromones and Chromanones

Alexandra Gaspar et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

Emerging threats to human health require a concerted effort to search for new treatment therapies. One of the biggest challenges is finding medicines with few or no side effects. Natural products have historically contributed to major advances in the field of pharmacotherapy, as they offer special characteristics compared to conventional synthetic molecules. Interest in natural products is being revitalized, in a continuous search for lead structures that can be used as models for the development of new medicines by the pharmaceutical industry. Chromone and chromanones are recognized as privileged structures and useful templates for the design of diversified therapeutic molecules with potential pharmacological interest. Chromones and chromanones are widely distributed in plants and fungi, and significant biological activities, namely antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, etc., have been reported for these compounds, suggesting their potential as lead drug candidates. This review aims to update the literature published over the last 6 years (2018-2023) regarding the natural occurrence and biological activity of chromones and chromanones, highlighting the recent findings and the perspectives that they hold for future research and applications namely in health, cosmetic, and food industries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chromone and chromanone’s chemical scaffold.
Figure 2
Figure 2
2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromone derivatives (1–12) isolated from the resinous wood of Aquilaria sinensis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
2-(2-Phenylethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrochromones (14–16) isolated from agarwood.
Figure 4
Figure 4
2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromones (17–32) isolated of Aquilaria plant’s agarwood.
Figure 5
Figure 5
2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromones (33–35) isolated from Aquilaria sinensis artificial holing agarwood.
Figure 6
Figure 6
2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromones (36–39) isolated from Aquilaria crassna agarwood.
Figure 7
Figure 7
2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromones (40–46) from Aquilaria walla agarwood.
Figure 8
Figure 8
New chromones isolated from the Myrtaceae (47 and 48) family and a new chromanone isolated from Nyctaginaceae (49) family.
Figure 9
Figure 9
New chromones (50–54) isolated from the genus Aloe.
Figure 10
Figure 10
New chromones (55–65) isolated from the Leguminosae family.
Figure 11
Figure 11
New chromones and chromanones (66–76) isolated from Rutaceae, Calophyllaceae, and Menispermaceae plant families.
Figure 12
Figure 12
New chromones (77–93) isolated from Umbelliferae plant family.
Figure 13
Figure 13
New chromones (94 and 95) isolated from Hypericaceae and Polygonaceae plant families.
Figure 14
Figure 14
New chromones (96–105) isolated from endophytic fungi.
Figure 15
Figure 15
New chromones and chromanones (106–124) isolated from endophytic fungi.
Figure 16
Figure 16
New chromones and chromanones (125–146) isolated from endophytic marine fungi.
Figure 17
Figure 17
New chromones and chromanones (147–163) isolated from fungi.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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