O. Oladimeji
Oct 1, 2021
Citations
0
Influential Citations
4
Citations
Journal
Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research
Abstract
: Background : Cinnamic acid is a white crystalline substance, chemically known as 2(E)-3-phenylprop-2-enoicacid or benzopropenoic acid. It is a mono-carboxylic acid naturally occurring in plants with low toxicity and serves as a flavoring agent in the food, pharmaceutical and perfumery industries. Objectives : The rising incidence of deleterious and harmful effects of free radicals in the human body leading to wide ranging disease conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, cancers, hay-fever amongst many others necessitated this present study. Method : The acid was subjected to the acetylation reaction using acetic anhydride in acetic acid. In addition, the acid and the resultant derivative were screened for antioxidant activity using the DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylhydrate) test. The comparison of the observed activities was also done. Results : The acetylation of the acid led to a derivative which has been identified to be cinnamyl acetate using the IR spectral technique. Both the cinnamic acid and acetyl derivative demonstrated remarkably significant antioxidant activity of IC 50 at 0.18 and 0.16 µg/mL respectively which compare favorably with 0.12 µg/mL elicited by Vitamin C (a standard antioxidant drug). Conclusion : The obtained results indicate that acetylation slightly enhances the antioxidant activity of cinnamic acid.