Heterofunctional carbosilane polyphenolic dendrons: new antioxidants platforms

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a critical role in different human pathophysiological processes. ROS, together with nitrogen reactive species, generated as by-products of cellular metabolism or external factors, affects intracellular redox homeostasis. Redox-active groups found in proteins and other compounds such as polyphenols are involved in maintaining intracellular redox homeostasis. In this work, a new family of heterofunctional first-generation carbosilane dendrons functionalised with different polyphenols at the focal point and dimethylammonium groups at the periphery has been obtained through two synthetic strategies: reductive amination and straightforward amidation reaction. Their antioxidant activity has been evaluated through two spectrophotometric methods: ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and 2,2 '-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay to establish a correlation between the number of hydroxyl groups and the antioxidant activity.