Investigations into the Photoprotective and Antioxidant Properties of the Tridachiahydropyrones

The propensity of the synthesised pyrone family 44, 43 and 9 to afford cellular protection against photochemical oxidative damage was assessed using a number of assay techniques. Given the photochemical reaction pathways interrelating the members of the tridachiahydropyrone family (Scheme 4.1), it was postulated that protection would be conferred by a combination of absorbing UV radiation, which would otherwise contribute to the formation of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Sect. 1.2.2, Scheme 1.13), and scavenging of the ROS singlet oxygen. In these assays the known biological antioxidants (±)-α-tocopherol (77) and L-(+)-ascorbic acid (78) were also tested in order to provide a point of comparison.