Examining the substituent effect on mycosporine-inspired ultraviolet filters

Current organic ultraviolet (UV) filters found in sunscreen formulations suffer a number of drawbacks. In this work, we have synthesised four biomimetic molecules built on the mycosporine molecular scaffold (a natural UV filter) with varying substituents at one of the carbons on the ring and investigated their photoprotective properties. From our findings, we infer design guidelines which may have a direct result on the production of next generation UV filters.