3-Aryl-4-acyloxyethoxyfuran-2(5H)-ones as inhibitors of tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase: synthesis, molecular docking and antibacterial evaluation.

Thirty-eight 3-aryl-4-acyloxyethoxyfuran-2(5H)-ones were designed, prepared and tested for antibacterial activities. Some of them showed significant antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organism, Gram-negative organism and fungus. Out of these compounds, 4-(2-(3-chlorophenylformyloxy)ethoxy)-3-(4-chlorophenyl)furan-2(5H)-one (d40) showed the widest spectrum of activity with MIC50 of 2.0µg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus, 4.3µg/mL against Escherichia coli, 1.5µg/mL against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 1.2µg/mL against Candida albicans. Our data disclosed that MIC50 values against whole cell bacteria are positive correlation with MIC50 values against tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase. Meanwhile, molecular docking of d40 into S. aureus tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase active site was also performed, and the inhibitor tightly fitting the active site might be an important reason why it has high antimicrobial activity.