Novel arylidene derivatives of quinoline based thiazolidinones: Synthesis, in vitro, in vivo and in silico study as antimalarials

Unlocking nitrogen compounds' promise against malaria: A comprehensive review

Plasmodium parasites are the primary cause of malaria, leading to high mortality rates, which require clinical attention. Many of the medications used in the treatment have resulted in resistance over time. Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) has shown significant results for the treatment. However, mutations in the parasite have resulted in resistance, leading to decreased efficiency of the medications that are currently being used. Therefore, there is a critical need to find novel scaffolds that are safe, effective, and of economic advantage. Literature has reported several potent molecules with diverse scaffolds designed, synthesized, and evaluated against different strains of Plasmodium. With this growing list of compounds, it is essential to collect the data in one place to gain a concise overview of the emerging scaffolds in recent years. For this purpose, nitrogen-containing heterocycles such as β-carboline, imidazole, quinazoline, quinoline, thiazole, and thiophene have been highly explored due to their wide biological applications. Besides these, another scaffold, benzodiazepine, which is majorly used as a central nervous system depressant, is emerging as an anti-malarial agent. Hence, this review centers on the latest medication advancements designed to combat malaria, emphasizing special attention to 1,4-benzodiazepines as a novel scaffold for antimalarial drug discovery.

Synthesis and Molecular Docking of some new Thiazolidinone and Thiadiazole Derivatives as Anticancer Agents

New sets of functionalized thiazolidinone and thiadiazole derivatives were synthesized, and their cytotoxicity was evaluated on HepG2, MCF-7, HTC-116, and WI38 cells. The synthetic approach is based on the preparation of 4-(4-acetamidophenyl)thiosemicarbazide (4) and their thiosemicarbazones 5 a-e, which are converted to the corresponding thiazoldin-4-one compounds 6 a-e upon cyclization with ethyl bromoacetate. The thiadiazole compounds 9 and 12 were obtained by reacting 4-(4-acetamidophenyl)thiosemicarbazide with isothiocyanates and/or ethyl 2-cyano-3,3-bis(methylthio)acrylate, respectively. The thiazolidinone compounds 6 c and 6 e exhibited strong cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells, with an IC50 (6.70±0.5 μM) and IC50 (7.51±0.8 μM), respectively, very close to that of doxorubicin (IC50: 4.17±0.2 μM). In addition, the anti-cancer properties of the tested thiazolidinone and thiadiazole scaffolds were further explored by the molecular docking program (MOE)-(PDB Code-1DLS). Compounds 5 d, 5 e, 6 d, 6 e, and 7 have the best binding affinity, ranging from -8.5386 kcal.mol-1 to -8.2830 kcal.mol-1.

Thiazolidin-4-one-based derivatives - Efficient tools for designing antiprotozoal agents. A review of the last decade

Thiazolidin-4-one derivatives have a wide range of therapeutic implementations and clinical significance for medicinal chemistry. This heterocyclic ring has been reported to possess a variety of biological activities, including antiprotozoal activities that have inspired scientists to integrate this scaffold with different pharmacophoric fragments to design novel and effective antiprotozoal compounds. There are reviews describing thiazolidin-4-ones small molecules as good candidates with a single type of antiprotozoal activity, but none of these show collected news associated with the antiprotozoal activity of thiazolidin-4-ones and their SAR analysis from the last decade. In this review we are focusing on the antitoxoplasmic, anti-trypanosomal, antimalarial, antileishmanial, and antiamoebic activity of these derivatives, we attempt to summarize and analyze the recent developments with regard to the antiprotozoal potential of 4-TZD covering the structure-activity relationship and main molecular targets. The importance of various structural modifications at C2, N3, and C5 of the thiazolidine-4-one core has also been discussed in this review. We hope that all information concluded in this review can be useful for other researchers in constructing new effective antiprotozoal agents.

Novel hybrids of quinoline with pyrazolylchalcones as potential antimalarial agents: Synthesis, biological evaluation, molecular docking and ADME prediction

A novel series of pyrazolyl chalcones containing quinoline scaffold, 5 a-v has been synthesized by Claisen Schimdt condensation of aromatic acetophenone with 1-(4-methylquinolin-2-yl)-3-aryl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde in quantitative yield. The compounds were characterized using IR, NMR, MS and elemental analysis. An E-configuration about CC ethylenic bond was determined using ¹H NMR spectroscopy. These compounds exhibited significant antimalarial potential against CQ-sensitive and CQ-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Structure activity relationship has also been established based on outcomes of in vitro schizont inhibition assay. Compound 5u, (Z)-3-(1-(4-methylquinolin-2-yl)-3-p-tolyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-1-p-tolylprop-2-en-1-one, was found to be the most potent among the series of synthetic analogues. In vivo, it demonstrated significant parasitemia suppression of 78.01% at a dose of 200 mg/kg against P. berghei in infected mice without any mortality in 7 days. In silico molecular docking study revealed that this compound 5u bound to the active site of cysteine protease falcipain-2 enzyme. Furthermore, in silico ADME studies, were also performed and physicochemical qualifications of the title compounds were determined. The biological outcomes of newer heterocyclic compounds may pave the new paths for researchers in development of potential antimalarial agents.

Molecular docking studies on COVID-19 and antibacterial evaluation of newly synthesized 4-(methoxymethyl)-1,2,3-triazolean analogues derived from (E)-1-phenyl-3-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)quinolin-3-yl) prop-2-en-1-one

A series of novel quinolone-based 4-(methoxymethyl)-1,2,3-triazole derivatives were synthesized, and their structures were characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR and mass spectroscopy. The compounds (IXa-l) were screened in vitro antibacterial activity against five gram-positive and five gram-negative bacterial strains, viz. M. Tuberculosis, M. Luteus, MRSA, B. Subtilis, B. Cereus, P. Aerginosa, K. Pneumonia, E. Coli, P. Vulgaris and S. Typhi, used and compared with standard gentamycin. The combination of the pharmacologically active moieties in a single scaffold results in their synergistic effect and high antimicrobial activity against several bacterial strains. COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the globe since its first identification in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19 Mpro) has become a major health problem causing severe acute respiratory illness in humans. The causative virus is called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and the World Health Organization named the new epidemic disease Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Also, docking studies demonstrated that all derivatives exhibit a good theoretical affinity with Autodock 4.2 software score in between − 9.89 and − 13.4 kCal/mol against the main protease of COVID‐19 Mpro that caused worldwide epidemics. We believe that newly synthesized quinolone-based 4-(methoxymethyl)-1,2,3-triazole derivatives can guide many future studies in organic synthesis, medicine and pharmaceutical applications.

Recent contributions of quinolines to antimalarial and anticancer drug discovery research

Quinoline, a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry, has always been associated with a multitude of biological activities. Especially in antimalarial and anticancer research, quinoline played (and still plays) a central role, giving rise to the development of an array of quinoline-containing pharmaceuticals in these therapeutic areas. However, both diseases still affect millions of people every year, pointing to the necessity of new therapies. Quinolines have a long-standing history as antimalarial agents, but established quinoline-containing antimalarial drugs are now facing widespread resistance of the Plasmodium parasite. Nevertheless, as evidenced by a massive number of recent literature contributions, they are still of great value for future developments in this field. On the other hand, the number of currently approved anticancer drugs containing a quinoline scaffold are limited, but a strong increase and interest in quinoline compounds as potential anticancer agents can be seen in the last few years. In this review, a literature overview of recent contributions made by quinoline-containing compounds as potent antimalarial or anticancer agents is provided, covering publications between 2018 and 2020.

Highlights on Steroidal Arylidene Derivatives as a Source of Pharmacologically Active Compounds: A Review

Steroids constitute a unique class of chemical compounds, playing an important role in physiopathological processes, and have high pharmacological interest. Additionally, steroids have been associated with a relatively low toxicity and high bioavailability. Nowadays, multiple steroidal derivatives are clinically available for the treatment of numerous diseases. Moreover, different structural modifications on their skeleton have been explored, aiming to develop compounds with new and improved pharmacological properties. Thus, steroidal arylidene derivatives emerged as a relevant example of these modifications. This family of compounds has been mainly described as 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and aromatase inhibitors, as well as neuroprotective and anticancer agents. Besides, due to their straightforward preparation and intrinsic chemical reactivity, steroidal arylidene derivatives are important synthetic intermediates for the preparation of other compounds, particularly bearing heterocyclic systems. In fact, starting from arylidenesteroids, it was possible to develop bioactive steroidal pyrazolines, pyrazoles, pyrimidines, pyridines, spiro-pyrrolidines, amongst others. Most of these products have also been studied as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents, as well as 5α-reductase and aromatase inhibitors. This work aims to provide a comprehensive overview of steroidal arylidene derivatives described in the literature, highlighting their bioactivities and importance as synthetic intermediates for other pharmacologically active compounds.

Saturated Five-Membered Thiazolidines and Their Derivatives: From Synthesis to Biological Applications

In past decades, interdisciplinary research has been of great interest for scholars. Thiazolidine motifs behave as a bridge between organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry and compel researchers to explore new drug candidates. Thiazolidine motifs are very intriguing heterocyclic five-membered moieties present in diverse natural and bioactive compounds having sulfur at the first position and nitrogen at the third position. The presence of sulfur enhances their pharmacological properties, and, therefore, they are used as vehicles in the synthesis of valuable organic combinations. They show varied biological properties viz. anticancer, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antioxidant activity and so on. This diversity in the biological response makes it a highly prized moiety. Based on literature studies, various synthetic approaches like multicomponent reaction, click reaction, nano-catalysis and green chemistry have been employed to improve their selectivity, purity, product yield and pharmacokinetic activity. In this review article, we have summarized systematic approaches for the synthesis of thiazolidine and its derivatives, along with their pharmacological activity, including advantages of green synthesis, atom economy, cleaner reaction profile and catalyst recovery which will help scientists to probe and stimulate the study of these scaffolds.

2-{[(4-Hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)methylidene]hydrazinylidene}-4-oxo-1,3-thiazolidin-5-yl Acetic Acid

Thia-Michael addition of 2-[(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)methylidene]hydrazine-1-carbothioamide (1) with maleic anhydride results in the formation of the title compound 2-{[(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)methylidene]hydrazinylidene}-4-oxo-1,3-thiazolidin-5-yl acetic acid 2. The precursor 1 is synthesized by the reaction of 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and thiosemicarbazide in the presence of glacial acetic acid as the catalyst. The structure of the title compound is determined by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and mass spectral data. In order to determine the molecular interactions with the bacterial enzyme, the title compound is further docked into the active site of the MurB protein of Staphylococcus aureus (PDB ID: 1HSK). The in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity of the title compound is carried out in order to appraise its antimicrobial efficacy by determination of zone of inhibition and minimal inhibitory concentration. The compound is also evaluated for its antioxidant property by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay.