DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF BENZOFURAN LINKED CHALCONE HYBRIDS AS POTENTIAL ANTIDIABETIC AGENTS

Chalcones are an important class of bioactive compounds known for their diverse pharmacological properties, while benzofuran derivatives are recognized as valuable scaffolds in medicinal chemistry due to their wide range of biological activities.In the present study, a series of novel benzofuran-containing chalcone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their pharmacological potential.The target compounds were prepared via Claisen-Schmidt condensation by reacting 2-acetylbenzofuran with various substituted aromatic aldehydes in the presence of ethanolic sodium hydroxide under mild reaction conditions.The synthesized compounds were obtained in good yields and purified by recrystallization.Structural elucidation of the synthesized derivatives was carried out using physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques, including M.P, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectrometry, confirming the formation of the desired benzofuran-chalcone framework.The synthesized compounds were further subjected to pharmacological evaluation using appropriate in vitro biological assays.The results revealed that several derivatives exhibited notable pharmacological activity, which may be attributed to the presence of both benzofuran and chalcone pharmacophores within the same molecular framework.Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that benzofuran-based chalcone derivatives represent promising candidates for further investigation as potential antidiabetic agents and may serve as useful lead structures in the development of new therapeutic molecules.