The series of fifteen synthesized 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives was subjected to antioxidant activity evaluation in vitro, through total antioxidant capacity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical, lipid peroxide scavenging and chelating activity. The highest activity was detected during the radicals scavenging, with 2b, 6b, 2c, and 4c noticed as the most active. The antioxidant activity was further quantified by the quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) studies. For this purpose, the structures were optimized using Paramethric Method 6 (PM6) semi-empirical and Density Functional Theory (DFT) B3LYP methods. Bond dissociation enthalpies of coumarin 4-OH, Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) gained hybridization of the oxygen, acidity of the hydrogen atom and various molecular descriptors obtained, were correlated with biological activity, after which we designed 20 new antioxidant structures, using the most favorable structural motifs, with much improved predicted activity in vitro.

Several novel 4-hydroxy-chromene-2-one derivatives 2b-16b were easily prepared through condensation reactions with microwave heating and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H-NMR and mass spectrometry. Geometry optimization of these compounds was executed by PM3, PM5 and Minimize Energy methods to describe them via molecular descriptors. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against different microbial strains using two different methods: the diffusion method and the micro-dilution method. All data indicated that the products possess antimicrobial activity which depends on the nature of substituent attached to the benzopyran moiety. In general, after 24 h the MIC values of most tested coumarins was 0.13 mg/mL, but compounds 1 and 6b displayed the strongest antimicrobial activity on the tested cultures of bacteria after 48 h. Compound 13b has the strongest growth inhibitory potential on fungus C. albicans, tested by diffusion method,with an inhibition zone of 30-37 mm at a concentration of 150 µg/mL. The conclusion of this experiment is that the synthesized compounds have varied and different influence on different classes of bacteria and the fungus C. albicans.