Abstract

The coumarin (benzopyran-2-one, or chromen-2-one) ring system, present in many natural products, displays diverse pharmacological properties. It has attracted the attention of chemists and medicinal chemists for decades. Many molecules based on the coumarin ring system have been described utilizing innovative synthetic methods. These synthetic routes have led to interesting analogues of coumarins which possess pharmacological activities like anti-HIV, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, anticancer, anti-TB, anticonvulsant and MAO inhibitory properties. Details of these studies, correlating structure with biological activity are described in this review.

Keywords: Anticancer, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, coumarin, MAO inhibitory, pharmacological properties.