Synthesis and antioxidant activities of novel 4-Schiff base-7-benzyloxy-coumarin derivatives

4-Schiff base-7-benzyloxy-coumarins 5a(1)-5h(2) and its derivative 6 were designed and synthesized based on the 7-benzyloxy-coumarin structure as novel antioxidants. The in vitro antioxidant activities screening revealed that 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities of compounds 5b(1), 5d(1), 5f(1), 5f(2), 5g(1) and 5g(2), and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) cation (ABTS(+)) radical scavenging activities of compounds 5a(1), 5b(1), 5c(1), 5c(2), 5d(1), 5e(1), 5e(2), 5f(2), 5g(1), 5g(2) and 5h(1) were better than that of the commercial antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), while the superoxide anion radical scavenging activities of 5a(2) and 5g(2) were stronger than that of the commercial antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of 5e(1) was much better than that of the common antioxidant ascorbic acid.