alpha, beta-Unsaturated gamma-lactones correlations between lipophilicity and biological activity.

A homogeneous series of alpha, beta-unsaturated gamma-lactones was prepared. Their in vitro activity against various microorganisms was quantitatively correlated, with the Hansch approach, to their lipophilicity, expressed by Rm chromatographic values. Although all the experimental results show a parabolic dependence, only in few cases the parabolic model calculated by Hansch fits to them. In most cases it was possible to find a good fitting between the ascending side of the parabola and the linear equation of Hansch. The meaning of the results and their utilization for future work are discussed.