Computational Investigation of the Influence of the Acyl Group on the Reducing Abilities of Acylphloroglucinols

Several naturally occurring acylphloroglucinolsAcylphloroglucinols (ACPLs) exhibit good antioxidantAntioxidants properties. The antioxidantAntioxidants activity of a molecule can be modelled through its ability to bind and reduce a metal ion. The Cu2+ ion is often selected for this purpose because it may also take part in the route through which the activity is exerted within the human organism. The present work follows initial studies of the reducing abilities of the hyperjovinol-A and arzanol molecules, and a subsequent study which confirmed the roles of the presence of three mutually meta phenol OHs for this activity. This work investigates the relevance of the sp2 O present in the acyl group of ACPLs for the molecule’s reducing ability. Two series of complexes are calculated for the hyperjovinol-A and arzanol molecules with a Cu2+ ion—one with the complete molecule and one with the molecule that results from removing the sp2 O. A simpler model molecule is also utilised to verify the impact of the removal of this O atom on theEffect of the acyl group on the reducing ability of acylphloroglucinols reducing ability of the acylphloroglucinolAcylphloroglucinols moiety itself. The results show that the molecule-ion affinity and the reduction of the charge and spin density on the ion are comparable for the two series of complexes and, in several cases, they are slightly better for the complexes of the molecules resulting from the removal of the sp2 O atom from the acyl group.