The natural product dihydroferulic acid (DFA,
1) and the synthesized DFA methyl (
4a), ethyl (
4b), propyl (
4c), hexyl(
4d), octyl (
4e), and decyl (
4f) esters were examined for antifungal activity. Test fungi included
Saccharomyces cerevisiae(wild type, and deletion mutants
slt2 and
bck1),
Aspergillus fumigatus, and
A. flavus. Growth inhibition of
S. cerevisiaetreated with 5 mM DFA or the corresponding esters was
4a,
4b, and
4c >98%;
4d 18.8%;
1 6.4%;
4e 6.2%; and
4f2.8%, relative to the control. The 50% minimum inhibitory concentrations for the more active propyl, methyl, and ethylesters were 1.5, 2.1, and 4.0 mM, respectively. Compound
4c inhibited 100% growth of both aspergilli at 6.4 mM.