Radical-scavenging properties of ferrocenyl chalcones

The radical-scavenging capacities of ferrocenyl group and phenolic hydroxyl group in ferrocenyl chalcone were identified in this work. 1,1′-Diacetylferrocene was applied to condense with benzaldehyde, vanillin, and protocatechualdehyde to produce ferrocenyl chalcones, which were employed to interact with 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) cationic radical (ABTS⁺), 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), and galvinoxyl radical, respectively. It was found that ferrocenyl chalcones as well as diacetylferrocene can trap these radicals effectively, and thus, concluded that both iron atom in ferrocene and phenolic hydroxyl group played the radical-scavenging role, and the radical-scavenging capacity of iron atom in ferrocene was even higher than that of phenolic hydroxyl group.