Synthesis, Characterization, and Antifungal Activity of Schiff Bases of Inulin Bearing Pyridine ring.

As a renewable, biocompatible, and biodegradable polysaccharide, inulin has a good solubility in water and some physiological functions. Chemical modification is one of the important methods to improve the bioactivity of inulin. In this paper, based on 6-amino-6-deoxy-3,4-acetyl inulin (), three kinds of Schiff bases of inulin bearing pyridine rings were successfully designed and synthesized. Detailed structural characterization was carried out using FTIR, C NMR, and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Moreover, the antifungal activity of Schiff bases of inulin against three plant pathogenic fungi, including , f.sp., and , were evaluated using in vitro hypha measurements. Inulin, as a natural polysaccharide, did not possess any antifungal activity at the tested concentration against the targeted fungi. Compared with inulin and the intermediate product 6-amino-6-deoxy-3,4-acetyl inulin (), all the synthesized Schiff bases of inulin derivatives with >54.0% inhibitory index at 2.0 mg/mL exhibited enhanced antifungal activity. 3NS, with an inhibitory index of 77.0% exhibited good antifungal activity against at 2.0 mg/mL. The synthesized Schiff bases of inulin bearing pyridine rings can be prepared for novel antifungal agents to expand the application of inulin.