Synthesis and In Vitro Biological Activities of Curcumin‐Heterocycle Conjugates

ABSTRACT In this work, 20 curcumin‐heterocycle conjugates were successfully synthesized via aldol condensation and Knoevenagel condensation reactions. The structures of these novel compounds were characterized by melting point determination (m.p.), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H/ 1 3 C NMR), and high‐resolution liquid‐chromatography mass spectrometry (HRMS). The MTT assay results revealed that compounds b1 and c6 could effectively reduce human lung cancer cells A549 viability to less than 40% at a certain concentration, demonstrating their potentially strong ability to suppress A549 cells proliferation. Antifungal bioassay results against plant pathogens showed that most of the curcumin‐heterocycle conjugates exhibited inhibitory activity superior to that of curcumin against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Valsa mali .