Flavonoids and Their Chemistry

A group of polyphenolic compounds found in plants.

Organic compounds containing more than one phenol group.

Compounds produced by plants that are not directly involved in growth.

Chemical compounds that help identify and distinguish plant species.

A C6-C3-C6 system; two linked phenyl rings (A and B) with a three-carbon chain (C).

Flavonoids bonded to a sugar molecule.

The non-sugar part of a glycoside.

The sugar part of a glycoside.

A precursor to flavonoids, built from 3 acetate units and a phenyl propanoid.

Strategies plants use to protect themselves from herbivores and pathogens.

OH groups typically found at positions 5 and 7 in ring A, and 3i, 4i, and 5i in ring B of flavonoid structures.

Flavonoids often linked to a sugar molecule (glycosylated) through an oxygen atom (O-glycosides), sometimes through carbon (C-glycosides).

Flavonoids dissolve in alkali (bases) to produce yellow solutions.

Categorizing flavonoids based on the attachment point of the B ring to the C ring and the structure of the C ring, including the degree of unsaturation and oxidation.

Flavonoids where the B-ring is attached to the C ring at position 3.

Flavonoids where the B-ring is attached to the C ring at position 4.

Flavonoids in a subgroup that has a 2-3 double bond and 4-position ketone in the C-ring.

Flavonoids with a hydroxyl group at position 3 in the C-ring; frequently glycosylated.

Flavonoids with an open C-ring structure.

A process where methyl groups are added to hydroxyl groups in flavonoids.

Examples include Apigenin, Luteolin, Tangeritin, Diosmetin (Flavones), Kaempferol, Rutin, Myricetin, Quercetin, Quercetrin, Fisetin (Flavonols).