Abstract
Concerning glyceryl ascorbate, of which stability was enhanced by introducing a glyceryl group into the enediol of ascorbic acid, various glyceryl-ascorbate derivatives having various lengths of alkyl-chains were synthesized in our laboratory and investigated in terms of the relationship between the molecular structures of the derivatives and their inhibitory abilities on the melanogenesis of B16 mouse melanoma cells. As a result, 2-O-alkyl-3-O-glyceryl ascorbates, having a long alkyl-chain with not less than 12 carbon atoms, showed high melanogenesis-inhibitory effect comparable to that of hydroquinone. Furthermore it was suggested that the melanogenesis-inhibitory ability was enhanced by exchanging the functional groups between the C-2 and C-3 position of 2-O-alkyl-3-O-glyceryl ascorbate, and the high ability required the introduction of not only an alkyl-chain but also a glyceryl group.
