Design, synthesis, and preliminary pharmacological evaluation of novel thiazolidinone derivatives as potential benzodiazepine agonists

Immobilized nickel boride nanoparticles on magnetic functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes: a new nanocomposite for the efficient one-pot synthesis of 1,4-benzodiazepines

In this study, a new magnetic nanocomposite consisting of Ni2B nanoparticles anchored on magnetic functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Fe3O4/f-MWCNT/Ni2B) was synthesized and characterized using various techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, SEM-based EDX, SEM-based elemental mapping, HRTEM, DLS, SAED, XPS, BET, TGA, and VSM. The as-prepared magnetic nanocomposite was successfully employed for the preparation of bioactive 1,4-benzodiazepines from the three-component reaction of o-phenylenediamine (1), dimedone (2), and different aldehydes (3), in polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) as a solvent at 60 °C. The obtained results demonstrated that the current one-pot three-component protocol offers many advantages, such as good-to-excellent yields within acceptable reaction times, favorable TONs and TOFs, eco-friendliness of the procedure, easy preparation of the nanocomposite, mild reaction conditions, a broad range of products, excellent catalytic activity, green solvent, and reusability of the nanocomposite.

Mercaptobenzimidazole-Based 1,3-Thaizolidin-4-ones as Antidiabetic Agents: Synthesis, In Vitro α-Glucosidase Inhibition Activity, and Molecular Docking Studies

In this research work, we have focused our efforts to synthesize a series of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole-based 1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones (5-24) following a multistep reaction strategy and characterization of the synthesized derivatives with the help of various spectroscopic techniques. To find the antidiabetic potentials of the synthesized compounds (5-24), in vitro alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity was performed using acarbose (IC50 = 873 ± 1.2 μM) as the reference standard. The results of the antidiabetic assay were very encouraging because compounds 5, 8, and 14 showed excellent inhibitions with IC50 values of 5.22 ± 0.14, 5.69 ± 0.10, and 10.20 ± 0.12 μM, respectively. The experimental results of anti-alpha-glucosidase activity prompted us to investigate and propose a possible mechanism of how the active molecules will interact with the target enzyme. For this purpose, molecular docking with the AutoDock Vina (an open-source and reliable docking platform) gave us an insight into the binding interactions of the active compounds to different amino acid residues of the enzyme.

The Bioactivity of Thiazolidin-4-Ones: A Short Review of the Most Recent Studies

Thiazolidin-4-ones is an important heterocyclic ring system of a pharmacophore and a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry. This review is focused on the latest scientific reports regarding biological activities of thiazolidin-4-ones published in 2020 and 2021. The review covers recent information about antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticonvulsant, antidiabetic, antiparasitic, antimicrobial, antitubercular and antiviral properties of thiazolidin-4-ones. Additionally, the influence of different substituents in molecules on their biological activity was discussed in this paper. Thus, this study may help to optimize the structure of thiazolidin-4-one derivatives as more efficient drug agents. Presented information may be used as a practical hint for rational design of new small molecules with biological activity, especially among thiazolidin-4-ones.

Synthesis of 4,6-diphenylpyrimidin-2-ol derivatives as new benzodiazepine receptor ligands

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) have been widely used in neurological disorders such as insomnia, anxiety, and epilepsy. The use of classical BZDs, e.g., diazepam, has been limited due to adverse effects such as interaction with alcohol, ataxia, amnesia, psychological and physical dependence, and tolerance. In the quest for new benzodiazepine agonists with more selectivity and low adverse effects, novel derivatives of 4,6-diphenylpyrimidin-2-ol were designed, synthesized, and evaluated. In this series, compound 2, 4-(2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyrimidin-2-ol, was the most potent analogue in radioligand binding assay with an IC₅₀ value of 19 nM compared to zolpidem (IC₅₀ = 48 nM), a nonbenzodiazepine central BZD receptor (CBR) agonist. Some compounds with a variety of affinities in radioligand receptor binding assay were selected for in vivo evaluations. Compound 3 (IC₅₀ = 25 nM), which possessed chlorine instead of fluorine in position 4 of the phenyl ring, exhibited an excellent ED₅₀ value in most in vivo tests. Proper sedative-hypnotic effects, potent anticonvulsant activity, appropriate antianxiety effect, and no memory impairment probably served compound 3, a desirable candidate as a benzodiazepine agonist. The pharmacological effects of compound 3 were antagonized by flumazenil, a selective BZD receptor antagonist, confirming the BZD receptors' involvement in the biological effects of the novel ligand.