15 The 2D NMR spectra of these homoisoflavanones (3–7) click here were previously studied.16 Here we report the antifungal activity of the synthetic homoisoflavanones (1–7) (Fig. 1) as well as the crystal structure

for compound 3 that showed the most potent antifungal activity. The structure of 3 exhibits a conspicuous non-planar conformation characteristic of all 2,3-dimethoxy-3-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)-4-chromanone derivatives (Fig. 2). The C3–C9–C1′–C6′ and C3–C9–C1′–C2′ torsion angles measure 19.2(2)° and −164.1(1)°, respectively. The dihedral angle between the 4-chromanone ring and the phenyl ring containing C1′ is 31.6(3)°, consistent with a substantial out-of-plane tilt of this substituent ring. The 4-chromanone ring is essentially planar as a whole, but with localized non-planarity confined

to the region encompassing the ethereal oxygen, O1 (Fig. 2). The deviations of the ether oxygen atom O1 and methylene carbon atom C2 from the mean plane of the 4-chromanone ring system measure 0.24(1) Å and 0.33(1) Å, respectively. One important conformation-defining intramolecular short contact exists for 3, specifically the hydrogen–hydrogen interaction H6′–H2B (2.034 Å). This is shown in the Van der Waals plot of Fig. 2b and is considerably shorter than the sum of the Van der Waals radii of two hydrogen atoms (2.4 Å). Analysis of the unit cell packing of 3 indicates that there are symmetric MLN8237 order (aromatic)C–H–O type hydrogen bonds between neighbouring molecules in the solid

state (Fig. 3) such that 3 crystallizes as an inversion pair or dimer with crystallographically-imposed inversion symmetry. One short H–O contact (shorter than the limit ∑(van der Waals radii) − 0.2 Å) exists between the carbonyl oxygen O2 and a neighbouring methoxy group’s hydrogen atom (H11A–O2, 2.49 Å). This interaction is inconsequential to the molecular conformation of 3. The X-ray structures of eleven homoisoflavanones have been reported in the literature20; the present structure of 3 is, however, novel. Inspection of the available crystallographic data suggests that the 4-chromanone ring is conformationally Cell press flexible in all of these compounds with the 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-one moiety capable of adopting half-chair conformations in which the methylene carbon (C2) is either displaced above or below the mean plane of the bicyclic 4-chromanone ring system. Thus, for example, the parent compound, (3E)-2,3-dimethoxy-3-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)-4-chromanone, crystallizes in the triclinic space group P-1 with the unit cell containing the inversion-related pair of conformers with the methylene carbon above and below the mean plane of the 4-chromanone ring system. 21 The present compound crystallizes in the space group P21/c and, because of the inversion centre shown in Table 1, both conformers of the 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran4-one moiety are simultaneously present in the solid state.