*Article* **Antifungal Activity against** *Botrytis cinerea* **of 2,6-Dimethoxy-4-(phenylimino)cyclohexa-2,5-dienone Derivatives**

**Paulo Castro 1,\*, Leonora Mendoza 1, Claudio Vásquez 2, Paz Cornejo Pereira 1, Freddy Navarro 1, Karin Lizama 1, Rocío Santander <sup>3</sup> and Milena Cotoras <sup>1</sup>**



Received: 20 December 2018; Accepted: 12 February 2019; Published: 15 February 2019 **Abstract:** In this work the enzyme laccase from *Trametes versicolor* was used to synthetize 2,6-dimethoxy-4-(phenylimino)cyclohexa-2,5-dienone derivatives. Ten products with different substitutions in the aromatic ring were synthetized and characterized using 1H- and 13C-NMR

and mass spectrometry. The 3,5-dichlorinated compound showed highest antifungal activity against the phytopathogen *Botrytis cinerea*, while the *p*-methoxylated compound had the lowest activity; however, the antifungal activity of the products was higher than the activity of the substrates of the reactions. Finally, the results suggested that these compounds produced damage in the fungal cell wall.

**Keywords:** *Botrytis cinerea*; antifungal activity; laccase; 2,6-dimethoxy-4-(phenylimino)cyclohexa-2, 5-dienone derivatives
