Recent Developments on Tyrosinase Inhibitors based on the Chalcone and Aurone Scaffolds

Chalcones and aurones are natural products which belong to the flavonoid family and possess a variety of pharmacological and biological activities. Chalcones and, in a lesser extent, aurones, are especially versatile chemical scaffolds, therefore a large number of synthetic analogues have been prepared and studied for their tyrosinase inhibitory activity. This report aims to briefly present all the studies about the tyrosinase inhibitory activity of chalcones and aurones, which are dated from 2009 until now. The type of inhibition mechanism as well as the key structural features that enhance activity are discussed. The review reveals the importance of tyrosinase inhibitors of the structural type as whitening agents in cosmetology, as antibrowning agents in food chemistry, and as therapeutics.