A comprehensive review on synthesis and designing aspects of coumarin derivatives as monoamine oxidase inhibitors for depression and Alzheimer's disease

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme inhibition is a crucial target for the management of depression and Alzheimer disease and inhibitors of MAO are the most important drugs for their management. Coumarins are a large family of compounds, of natural and synthetic origin, that exhibit a variety of pharmacological activities, including MAO inhibition. The current review highlights the design and synthetic methods of coumarin derivatives as well as coumarins obtained from plant source as MAO inhibitors for treatment of depression and Alzheimer disease with salient finding related to structure-activity relationship. The aim of present review is to find out natural as well as synthetic coumarins as MAO inhibitors. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.