Novel phenanthridine amide analogs as potential anti-leishmanial agents: In vitro and in silico insights.

In the current work, sixteen novel amide derivatives of phenanthridine were designed and synthesized using 9-fluorenone, 4-Methoxy benzyl amine, and alkyl/aryl acids. The characterization of the title compounds was performed using LCMS, elemental analysis, 1HNMR, 13CNMR and single crystal XRD pattern was also developed for compounds A8. All the final analogs were screened in vitro for anti-leishmanial activity against promastigote form of L. infantum strain. Among the tested analogs, four compounds (A-06, A-11, A-12, and A-15) exhibited significant anti-leishmanial activity with EC50 value ranges from 8.9 to 21.96 µM against amastigote forms of tested L. infantum strain with SI ranges of 1.0 to 4.3. From the activity results it was found that A-11 was the most active compound in both promastigote and amastigotes forms with EC50 values 8.53 and 8.90 µM respectively. In-silico ADME prediction studies depicted that the titled compounds obeyed Lipinski's rule of five as that of the approved marketed drugs. The predicted in-silico toxicity profile also confirmed that the tested compounds were non-toxic. Finally, molecular docking and molecular dynamics study was also performed for significantly active compound (A-11) in order to study it's putative binding pattern at the active site of the selected leishmanial trypanothione reductase target as well as to understand the stability pattern of target-ligand complex for 100 ns. Single crystal XRD of compound A-08 revealed that the compound crystallizes in monoclinic C2/c space group and showed interesting packing arrangements.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 1,2,3-triazole analogues of Imidazo-[1,2-a]-pyridine-3-carboxamide against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Twenty-eight novel 1,2,3-triazole analogues of imidazo-[1,2-a]-pyridine-3-carboxamide were designed and synthesized based on hybridization approach. The structure of the final compounds are characterized using 1HNMR, 13CNMR, LCMS and elemental analyses and are screened in vitro for anti-tubercular activity using low-oxygen recovery assay (LORA) non-replicating and using microplate alamar blue assay (MABA) against replicating M. tuberculosis. MIC was determined. From the obtained results, it was observed that, among (2,7-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)(4-((1-subtituted phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanones and (6-chloro-2-methylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)(4-((1-substituted phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanones, compounds with substitution at para position with electron electron releasing groups exhibited the best activity (< 34 µg/mL). Amidst, (2,7-dimethylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)(4-(2-(4-alkyl/substituted aryl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)ethyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanones and (6-chloro-2-methylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)(4-(2-(4- alkyl/substituted aryl -1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)ethyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanones, compounds with long alkyl chain or cyclo propyl group were most active (< 21 µg/mL) in MABA method against the tested strain of MTB. Compound 10b emerged to be the most active compound in MABA and LORA with MIC values 13.74 and 24.63 µg/mL respectively. In-silico ADMET parameters were also predicted for the significantly active compound. Finally, molecular docking study was carried out to predict the feasible binding pattern of the most active compound at the active site of enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (PDB-4TZK) using Glide module of Schrodinger software.

Discovery of 1,2,3-triazole based quinoxaline-1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives as potential anti-tubercular agents.

A series of thirty one novel 2-(((1-(substituted phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy)carbonyl)-3-methylquinoxaline-1,4-dioxide (7a-l), 3-(((1-(substituted phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy)carbonyl)-6-chloro-2-methylquinoxaline-1,4-dioxide (8a-l) and 2-(((1-(substituted phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy)carbonyl)-6,7-dichloro-3-methylquinoxaline-1,4-dioxide (9a-g) analogues were synthesized, characterized using various analytical techniques and single crystal was developed for the compounds 8 g and 9f. Synthesized compounds were evaluated for in vitro anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain and two clinical isolates Spec. 210 and Spec. 192. The titled compounds exhibited minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 30.35 to 252.00 µM. Among the tested compounds, 8e, 8 l, 9c and 9d exhibited moderate activity (MIC = 47.6 - 52.0 µM) and 8a exhibited significant anti-tubercular activity (MIC = 30.35 µM). Furthermore, 8e, 8 l, and 9d were found to be less toxic against human embryonic kidney, HEK 293 cell lines. Finally, a docking study was also performed using MTB DNA Gyrase (PDB ID: 5BS8) for the significantly active compound 8a to know the exact binding pattern within the active site of the target enzyme.

Seeking potent anti-tubercular agents: design and synthesis of substituted-N-(6-(4-(pyrazine-2-carbonyl)piperazine/homopiperazine-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)benzamide derivatives as anti-tubercular agents.

Pyrazinamide is an important first-line drug used in shortening TB therapy. In our current work, a series of novel substituted-N-(6-(4-(pyrazine-2-carbonyl)piperazine/homopiperazine-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)benzamide derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra. Among the tested compounds, five compounds (6a, 6e, 6h, 6j and 6k) from Series-I and one compound (7e) from Series-II exhibited significant activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) ranging from 1.35 to 2.18 µM. To evaluate the efficacy of these compounds, we examined their IC90 values. Five of the most active compounds were found to be more active with IC90s ranging from 3.73 to 4.00 µM and one compound (6e) showed an IC90 of 40.32 µM. Moreover, single crystals were developed for 6d, 6f and 6n. In addition, most active compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney) cells. Our results indicate that the compounds are nontoxic to human cells. The molecular interactions of the derivatised conjugates in docking studies reveal their suitability for further development.

Synthesis, study of antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activity of imidazo pyridine fused triazole analogues.

Four groups, thirty-five compounds in total, of novel 1,2,3-triazole analogues of imidazo-[1,2-a]-pyridine-3-carboxamides were designed and synthesized using substituted pyridine, propargyl bromide, 2-azidoethyl 4-methyl benzenesulfonate and substituted acetylenes. These compounds were characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, LCMS and elemental analyses and a crystal structure was obtained for one of the significantly active compounds, 8f. All the synthesized and characterized compounds were screened in vitro for antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activity against Leishmania major and Trypanosoma brucei parasites, respectively. Among the tested analogues, five compounds (8d, 8f, 8j, 10b and 10d) exhibited significant antileishmanial activity while three compounds (10b, 11a and 11b) showed substantial activity against T. brucei parasite. In silico ADME prediction studies depicted that the essential compounds obeyed Lipinski's rule of five. The predicted in silico toxicity profile suggested that the tested compounds would be non-toxic, which was confirmed experimentally by the lack of cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. Finally, a molecular docking study was also performed, for 10d the most active antileishmanial compound, to study its putative binding pattern at the active site of the selected leishmanial trypanothione reductase target.

Correction: Seeking potent anti-tubercular agents: design and synthesis of substituted-N-(6-(4-(pyrazine-2-carbonyl)piperazine/homopiperazine-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)benzamide derivatives as anti-tubercular agents.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01348J.].

Inhibitors of pantothenate synthetase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis - a medicinal chemist perspective.

Tuberculosis (TB), one of the most prevalent infections, is on the rise today. Although there are drugs available in the market to combat this lethal disorder, there are several shortcomings with the current drug regimen, such as prolonged treatment period, drug resistance, high cost, etc. Hence, it is inevitable for the current researchers across the globe to embark on new strategies for TB drug discovery, which will yield highly active low cost drugs with a shorter treatment period. To achieve this, novel strategies need to be adopted to discover new drugs. Pantothenate Synthetase (PS) is one such striking drug target in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It was observed that the pantothenate biosynthetic pathway is crucial for the pathogenicity of MTB. Pantothenate is absent in mammals and needs to be obtained from dietary sources. Hence, the pantothenate biosynthesis pathway is an impending target for emerging new therapeutics to treat TB. Worldwide, several approaches have been implemented by researchers in the quest for these inhibitors such as high-throughput screening, simulating the reaction intermediate pantoyl adenylate, use of vibrant combinatorial chemistry, hybridization approach, virtual screening of databases, inhibitors based on the crystal structure of MTB PS, etc. The present review recapitulates current developments in PS inhibitors, important analogues of numerous metabolic intermediates, and newly established inhibitors with innumerable chemical structures.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 1,2,3-triazole based 2-aminobenzimidazoles as novel inhibitors of LasR dependent quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Bacteria regulate their phenotype, growth and population via a signalling pathway known as quorum sensing. In this process, bacteria produce signalling molecules (autoinducers) to recognize their population density. Inhibiting this quorum sensing signalling pathway is one of the potential methods to treat bacterial infection. 2-Aminobenimdazoles are reported to be the strongest inhibitors of quorum sensing against wild-type P. aeruginosa. 1,2,3-Triazole based acyl homoserine lactones are found to be good inhibitors of the quorum sensing LasR receptor. Hence, in our current study, forty 1,2,3-triazole based 2-aminobenzimdazoles were synthesized and characterized using IR, NMR, MS and elemental analysis. A single crystal was developed for N-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-(4-nonyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamide (6d). All final compounds were screened for in vitro quorum sensing inhibitory activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The quorum sensing inhibitory activity was determined in the LasR expressing P. aeruginosa MH602 reporter strain by measuring green fluorescent protein production. Among the title compounds, N-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamide (6i) exhibited good quorum sensing inhibitory activity of 64.99% at 250 µM. N-(1H-Benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-(4-(4-nitrophenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamide (6p) exhibited the most promising quorum sensing inhibitory activity with 68.23, 67.10 and 63.67% inhibition at 250, 125 and 62.5 µM, respectively. N-(1H-Benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-(4-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamide (6o) and N-(5,6-dimethyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-(4-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamide (7l) also exhibited 64.25% and 65.80% quorum sensing inhibition at 250 µM. Compound 6p, the most active quorum sensing inhibitor, also displayed low cytotoxicity at the tested concentrations (25, 50 and 100 µM) against normal human embryonic kidney cell lines. Finally, a docking study using Schrodinger Glide elucidated the possible putative binding mode of the significantly active compound 6p at the active site of the target LasR receptor (PDB ID: 2UV0).

Design and synthesis of 9H-fluorenone based 1,2,3-triazole analogues as Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhA inhibitors.

We prepared fifty various 9H-fluorenone based 1,2,3-triazole analogues varied with NH, -S-, and -SO2 - groups using click chemistry. The target compounds were characterized by routine analytical techniques, 1 H, 13 CNMR, mass, elemental, single-crystal XRD (8a) and screened for in vitro antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Rv strain and two "wild" strains Spec. 210 and Spec. 192 and MIC50 was determined. Further, the compounds were evaluated for MTB InhA inhibition study as well. The final analogues exhibited minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 52.35 to >295 µm. Among the -NH- analogues, one compound 5p (MIC 58.34 µm), among -S- containing analogues four compounds 8e (MIC 66.94 µm), 8f (MIC 74.20 µm), 8g (MIC 57.55 µm), and 8q (MIC 56.11 µm), among -SO2 - containing compounds one compound 10p (MIC 52.35 µm) showed less than MTB MIC 74.20 µm: Compound 4-(((9H-fluoren-9-yl)sulfonyl)methyl)-1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole (10p) was found to be the most active compound with 73% InhA inhibition at 50 µm; it inhibited MTB with MIC 52.35 µm. Further, 10f and 10p were docked to crystal structure of InhA to know binding interaction pattern. Most active compounds were found to be non-cytotoxic against HEK 293 cell lines at 50 µm.

Seeking potent anti-tubercular agents: Design, synthesis, anti-tubercular activity and docking study of various ((triazoles/indole)-piperazin-1-yl/1,4-diazepan-1-yl)benzo[d]isoxazole derivatives.

A series of thirty eight novel 3-(4-((substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl/1,4-diazepan-1-yl)benzo[d]isoxazole and 1-(4-(benzo[d]isoxazol-3-yl)piperazin-1-yl/1,4-diazepan-1-yl)-2-(1H-indol-3-yl)substituted-1-one analogues were synthesised, characterised using various analytical techniques and evaluated for in vitro anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain and two 'wild' strains Spec. 210 and Spec. 192. The titled compounds exhibited minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 6.16 to >200µM. Among the tested compounds, 7i, 7y and 7z exhibited moderate activity (MIC=24.03-29.19µM) and 7j exhibited very good anti-tubercular activity (MIC=6.16µM). Furthermore, 7i, 7j, 7y and 7z were found to be non-toxic against mouse macrophage cell lines when screened for toxicity. All the synthesised compounds were docked to pantothenate synthetase enzyme site to know deferent binding interactions with the receptor.