Imidazolopyrazinones as Potential Antioxidants

Abstract—A series of imidazolopyrazinones 3, substituted at C-2, and C-2/C-6, has been prepared. The compounds behaved as quenchers of superoxide anion. The more active compounds are structurally related to coelenterazine, a natural substrate of marine bioluminescence. Theoretical parameters based on Hartree–Fock instabilities have been examined. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Partially reduced derivatives of oxygen, which are pro-duced in aerobic organisms as part of normal physio-logical and metabolic processes, are toxic species since they can oxidize numerous biomolecules leading to tis-sue injury and cell death.1 Such reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced in excessive concentrations or in wrong locations, cause an oxidative stress associated with a variety of disease states in humans.24 Thus, when the natural protective systems towards ROS is running over, exogeneous antioxidative compounds have to be delivered. The research of new antioxidant