Novel nitrone antioxidants

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have increasingly been demonstrated in recent years as contributing towards a variety of pathologies most notably stroke, arteriosclerosis, diabetes and organ transplantation. ROS irreversibly modify polyunsaturated membrane lipids due to lipid peroxidation which in turn, affects essential cellular functions. Natural antioxidant defences can be overwhelmed when the body is placed under high oxidative stress. Therefore, intervention by synthetic antioxidants should be beneficial. N-(benzylidene)-tert-butylamine N-oxide (PBN), commonly used as an ESR reagent, has previously been shown to protect neurones from ROS damage. Novel nitrone antioxidants designed to protect membranes from ROS damage have been synthesised in 5 steps, with good yield and have demonstrated excellent ROS trapping ability using electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). The results of in vitro tests will also be presented.