The aim of this project was to develop an eco-friendly process for the synthesis of compounds endowed with antioxidant activity. The target molecules were glycosylflavonols. Instead of performing a total synthesis of natural compounds, difficult to isolate, and showing an interesting activity, we decided to prepare a new class of molecules in which the structural elements necessary for antioxidant activity are maintained but having a glycosidic linkage easy to achieve.Each step of the synthesis was designed and carried out following the principles of green chemistry. We have promoted reactions with a high atom economy, avoided the use of protecting groups and used polyethylene glycol, water, and ethanol as green solvents. The strategy was based on a convergent synthesis. Firstly, sugar moiety was synthesized as a C-glycoside to increase its stability with respect to conditions of chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis. On the other hand, the synthesis of different polyhydroxychalcones by a new method that does not require protecting groups yielded different flavonoid moieties. The link between the sugar moiety and flavonoids moieties was then achieved using the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). This reaction has also been the subject of a study that showed that polyethylene glycol is a solvent of choice for this reaction, since it allowed reducing the copper contamination of the products.Two glycosylflavonols and four mixtures of glycosylchalcone-glycosylflavanone were synthesized in eco-friendly solvents without the use of protecting groups. Furthermore, reactions and purification steps were optimized to reduce the amount of waste generated during the process. Finally, the evaluation by green chemistry metrics was performed for each step of the synthesis as well as for the whole process.
