Several resorcinol derivatives were synthesized and their effects on the survival rate of B16\nmurine melanoma cells, melanin production, and tyrosinase activity were investigated with an aim to\nevaluate their skin whitening effect. Twelve resorcinol derivatives were synthesized by esterification\nwith three functional groups (L-ascorb-6-yl, ethyl, and glyceryl) linked via four alkyl chains of varying\nlengths (n = 2â??5) at the 4-position. The structures of the 12 resorcinol derivatives were confirmed by\nNuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The derivatives were added to B16 murine melanoma cells and\nthe melanin contents in the cells and culture medium were measured. To measure the tyrosinase\nactivity, the substrate L-DOPA was added to a mushroom-derived tyrosinase solution, and the\ninhibition of the tyrosinase activity was determined. At 10 microM, the resorcinol derivatives did not\naffect the survival of the B16 murine melanoma cells, but the melanin content was reduced. At 1 microM,\nthe derivatives significantly inhibited the tyrosinase activity in the mushroom-derived tyrosinase\nsolution. A plot of the inhibitory effect on melanin production against the cLogP value for each\nresorcinol derivative indicated that the highest inhibition occurred at a cLogP value of approximately\n2. Therefore, these resorcinol derivatives are expected to serve as effective skin whitening agents.
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