What is coumaring?

An Overview of a molecule
with an interesting past and a bright future.

[1] 1 coumarin molecule.

Coumarin might be one of the most interesting molecules that are being studied nowdays in
our scientifical world. Nevertheless, why are these organic molecules so interesting for the
research groups several universities? Every day we have more and more investigations that
are being carried out to find more uses of this molecule that has shown interesting qualities in
our human physiology.
First, it is important to define what coumarin is. This molecule cannot be defined as a single
molecule but now it can be defined as a molecule group. This group was originally extracted
from tonka beams in 1820 by the scientist A. Vogel of Munich, who initially confused
coumarin for benzoic acid. Several plants are claimed to possess coumarin in it, however, the
tonka beans are the ones that has the major quantity of coumarin. This is the main reason of
the name of the molecule: it comes from coumarou being this another way to name this plant.
Coumarin has a noteworthy smells thar resembles fine herbs newly cut, vanilla and cinnamon.
In fact, it was used as a spice and condiment until it was banned by the U.S. for consumption
in 1954. The frenzy about the tonka was that high that many chefs considered it as the most
delicious ingredient known by the humankind. The reason of the prohibition of tonka beans as
a spice was mostly for its effects in the body. being enough to kill a sheep with a simple dose
of several beans, tonka beans were proved to have negative impacts in the liver when used as
a spice with a certain frequency.
Basically, this molecule is no more than a benzene ring attached that had two vicinal
hydrogens replaced by a lactone ring which is not unsaturated (containing several double
bonds). This gives the molecule to form two aromatic rings one coming from the benzene ring
and another ring that has an oxygen and a carbonyl group making it a heterocyclic ring. This
‘’heterocyclic ring is the one that gives all the exciting proprieties of this molecule giving it
the possibility to enter different reactions and allowing chemist to create a wide range of
molecules each of one having different characteristics.
That is why the coumarin molecule more than a single molecule, it must be seen as a group of
molecules that are called benzopyrones. As it said before, thousand of these molecules has
been synthesized or extracted from a natural source and then sorted into a coumarin
‘’subspecies’’ this coumarin groups can be divided and determined according to substituent
groups attached to the benzene ring.
For instance, when having a benzene ring that only contains hydroxyl or normal aliphatic
chains (just normal chains of carbon) the coumarin molecule will be determined as a ‘’simple
coumarin’’. In this group we have several molecules such as esculetin, which possess two
hydroxyls parallel to the pyrone group of the molecule, and osthole with a more complex
structure but still persevering the original shape of the coumarin molecule. In the case of
having a furan-ring attached to the ring it will be called a Furanocoumarin and the list
continues. This is a clear indication or sign of how flexible these molecules are having in their
structure a wide possibility.
As it is said before, the nice and remarkable smell of coumarin was its own starting point.
However, after being banned, it was mainly used as a perfume and for reducing the harsh
flavor of tobacco when it is smoked. In the fabrication of rubber, it is also normally used for
masking the smell of it and used as a dye laser. Although these uses are of high importance,
the journey of coumarin really started when the biological activity of it was measured. in the
mammal’s body coumarin is capable of being metabolized: research has shown that coumarin
passes under several metabolic processes.
Flavonoids, are a category of drugs that are based on coumarin and are connected in the
mammals’ cell function. Research have proven the anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and
antihemorrhagic characteristic in coumarin molecules. Besides all, it possesses mild
adrenergic activity. but the most optimistic usage has been the positive response of coumarin
derivates as a medication of prostate cancer and melanoma. Coumarin inhibits the growth of
the tumor cell, it activates the immune system preventing metastases and avoids mutation.
In brief, many synthetic methods have been developed with the aim of synthesizing this
molecule in a laboratory environment. All with the aim to keep exploring different qualities of
this molecule, it is clear the research conducted over coumarin derivates is still not over and
the whole world is still interested in the future outcomes that this molecule might have.

[1]azzaman, makki. (2022). Synthesis of coumarin-schiff base derivatives and investigation

photochemical properties / Makki Azzaman ; tez danışmanı Prof.Dr. Elife Sultan Giray.
(thesis).

ERŞATIR, M. (2022). Biyoizosterik kumarin-selenofen birimler içeren moleküllerin sentezi

ve biyolojik aktivitelerinin irdelenmesi / Mehmet Erşatır ; tez danışmanı Prof.Dr. E.
Sultan Giray. (thesis).