Abstract

Yasser Fakri Mustafa, Noora Thamer Abdulaziz.

Coumarin-based derivatives occupy a prominent position in many fields related to medicine and industry. This can be attributed to their multilateral biological activities and diversity of chemical features. Among coumarin-based derivatives, hymecromone (7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin) has attracted great attention from the medicinal chemists. In addition to its ease preparation, this synthetic coumarin, which is known chemically as 7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one, possesses a phenolic hydroxyl group that considers as one of the most derivatiable functional groups. In the literature, many scientific papers described the synthesis and biological activities of hymecromone-based derivatives. This systematic review focused on the synthesis of these derivatives and description of their biological potentials, especially those related to the antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral, anti-Alzheimer, anti-inflammatory, and cardio-protective effects. The authors proposed that this review may guide the medicinal chemists to select the proper functional groups and their substitutional positions on hymecromone nucleus for the development of new therapeutic agents.