LAUSR

&NA; Hesperetin has been known to exert several activities such as anti‐oxidant, antitumor and anti‐inflammatory. To find hesperetin derivatives showing better activity, sixteen novel hesperetin derivatives were designed and synthesized. The new obtained compounds were investigated for their anti‐inflammatory activity by inhibiting interleukin‐1&bgr; (IL‐1&bgr;), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and production of nitric oxide (NO) in mouse RAW264.7 macrophages, and the structure‐activity relationship of them was discussed. Among them, the compound 1l, 2c demonstrated more effective inhibitory activity of IL‐1&bgr; and IL‐6, meanwhile, the compound 1l showed the best inhibition of NO production. The results of NO inhibition study were basically accord with the molecular docking results of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Furthermore, the expression of LPS‐induced iNOS and components of NF‐&kgr;B signaling pathway were reduced by compound 1l. Our results suggest that the inhibitory effect of compound 1l on LPS‐stimulated inflammatory mediator production in RAW 264.7 cells is associated with the suppression of NF‐&kgr;B signaling pathway and inhibition of iNOS protein and iNOS activity. From in vivo study, it was also observed that compound 1l had hepato‐protective and anti‐inflammatory effects in CCl4‐induced acute liver injury mouse models. Graphical abstract: Figure. No caption available. HighlightsDesign and synthesis of 7‐position of hesperetin with alkyl and benzyl groupAnti‐inflammatory effects of hesperetin derivatives in vitro and structure‐activity relationship analysisAttenuated effect of the expression of iNOS and NF‐&kgr;BIn vivo evaluation of compound 1l in hepato‐protective effectsMolecular docking of compound 1l and iNOS protein