Application of furfural for the synthesis of potentially bioactive molecules.
Furfural is a heterocyclic and aromatic aldehyde, also known as furaldehyde and 2-furancarboxyaldehyde. It is a clear and colorless oil obtained by the biomass hydrolysis and used as a solvent or a starting material for the preparation of new organic solvents and other important derivatives. The main advantage of furfuraldehyde as a raw material is that its sources are renewable. Thus, the objective of this work is to carry out several syntheses with furfural, obtaining a library of compounds for the investigation of their biological activities. A two-step synthesis was carried out: Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction and Claisen-Schmidt condensation in basic medium with good yields (42 and 75%). Hantzsch multicomponent reactions were also performed with excellent yield (83%) and Biginelli with low yield (19%). Claisen-Schmidt condensation reactions in acidic medium and dihydropyridine oxidation did not provide the desired products. In parallel, a study on the efficiency in the separating process of niobium compounds, used as catalysts, was carried out and it was verified that ethyl acetate is the best solvent. The work sought to develop practical and efficient methodologies for obtaining the products of interest. The obtained products were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance. As future prospects, evaluations of the biological activities of the compounds obtained from furfural will be carried out.