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Received 5 May 2007; received in revised form 7 September 2007; accepted 13 September 2007
Available online 29 September 2007
Abstract
The synthesis of novel 1,3-diaryl propenone derivatives and their antimalarial activity in vitro against asexual blood stages of human malaria
parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, are described. Chalcone derivatives were prepared via ClaiseneSchmidt condensation of substituted aldehydes
with substituted methyl ketones. Antiplasmodial IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) activity of these compounds ranged between 1.5
and 12.3 mg/ml. The chloro-series, 1,2,4-triazole substituted chalcone was found to be the most effective in inhibiting the growth of P. falcipa-
rum in vitro while pyrrole and benzotriazole substituted chalcones showed relatively less inhibitory activity. This is the first report on antiplas-
modial activity of chalcones with azoles on acetophenone ring.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
0223-5234/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2007.09.014
N. Mishra et al. / European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 43 (2008) 1530e1535 1531
Table 1
H
Antimalarial activity of chalcone derivatives
O
H
HN NEt2 O HO OH Compounds R R1 R2 R3 Mean IC50 SEa (mg/ml)
O
O 1 H Cl H 2.93 0.08
N
Cl O O O
Chloroquine Artemisinin Licochalcone A
N
Fig. 1. Structure of chloroquine, artemisinin and licochalcone A. 2 H Cl H 2.5 0.27
N
N
: :
H S: N H S : Nucleophilic
HN N HN .. attack
..
CH2 CH2 satisfactory for the synthesis of chalcones in good yields. In
Cys Cys
CH2 CH2 most cases, products were formed immediately after the addi-
His His tion of sodium hydroxide pellets to the stirred solution of alde-
Enzyme Enzyme hyde and substituted methyl ketone. If the starting material
was insoluble in methanol, tetrahydrofuran (THF) or 1,4-diox-
Fig. 2. Peptide bond cleavage by the enzyme, cysteine protease. ane was used as a co-solvent. To ensure the formation of solid,
1532 N. Mishra et al. / European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 43 (2008) 1530e1535
O
R1 H
O O O
R2
R1
R3
F (a) R (b) R R2
R3
(a) c yclic amines, K2CO3, DMF, 18 hrs., 110°C i) R1=H, R2=Cl, R3=H
(b) NaOH, methanol, 16-20 hrs, rt. ii) R1=H, R2= -OCH3, R3=H
iii) R1= R2= R3= -OCH3
a minimal amount of methanol was used. The product, a,b-un- showed moderate activity while pyrazole showed least activity
saturated ketone, is almost always obtained in the trans-alkene (compound 9). In the trimethoxy series, compound 13 having
form (E-form). The yields were not optimized and ranged be- morpholine substituents unlike in chloro-series showed signifi-
tween 56 and 78%. cant activity and it is comparable with compounds 1 and 2 in
The homogeneity of the final compounds was ensured by chloro-series. Morpholine substituent was found to be the
column chromatography (silica, mesh size 60e120, CDH) us- least effective in chloro-series. Compound 14 containing
ing chloroform as eluent. The compounds were characterized 1,2,4-triazole in trimethoxy series showed moderate activity,
by Macromass G and 1H NMR (300 MHz, Brucker), the data whereas it was the most active in chloro-series. The activity
were found consistent with the structures and the microanalyt- can be attributed to the presence of azoles, although reasons
ical results were within 0.4 from theoretical values. The Rf of for increased activity are unclear.
all compounds was recorded in 1% methanol in chloroform. Compound 7, containing triazole and chloro substituents,
The biophysical parameters of the compounds are presented was found to be the most potent antiplasmodial derivative
in Table 1. evaluated, suggesting that small lipophilic groups containing
single or multiple nitrogen can enhance antimalarial activity
3. Results and discussion in vitro. Compound 2 showed lower IC50 value compared to
compound 1. In a comparison between compounds 2 and 7,
Chalcone is an exceptional chemical template having mul- compound 7 showed more potent antimalarial activity
tifarious biological activities. Antimalarial property of some than compound 2 although both contained three nitrogens.
chalcone derivatives is derived from their ability to inhibit We assumed that in triazole substituted chalcone, spacing of
the parasitic enzyme, cysteine protease [20]. The enzyme ca- nitrogen and the orientation of the molecule on active site of
tabolizes globin into small peptides within the acidic food vac- enzyme are good enough to provide stronger and effective
uole of the intra-erythrocytic malaria parasite. Without hydrogen bonding with His 67 of cysteine protease. Therefore,
cysteine protease action osmotic swelling occurs, food vacuo- we propose a possible interaction of compound 7 with the en-
lar functions are impaired, and parasite death ensues. Homol- zyme as shown in Fig. 4. Moreover, in the case of benzotria-
ogy-based computer model structure also predicts malaria zole substituted chalcone, bulky nature or orientation of
blood stage cysteine protease as the most likely target enzyme benzene ring on enzyme active site gives some kind of steric
of chalcones [25]. The chalcones are conjugates of a,b-unsat- hindrance which prevents accessibility of nitrogens for effec-
urated ketones that assume linear or near planar structure. This tive hydrogen bonding or protonation on enzyme active site,
structure is stable in acidic food vacuolar environment where thus making the compound to be less potent than compound 7.
malarial cysteine protease acts, and structural conformation However, the exact reason remains elusive.
may fit well into the long cleft of the active site of the enzyme. Nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds are generally
Considering these facts we designed and synthesized various known to possess antimalarial activity as seen in the case of
chalcones. Three substituents chosen at aldehyde ring were quinolynyl (pKa 4.9) as they tend to concentrate in the acidic
4-chloro, 4-methoxy and 3,4,5-trimethoxy functions. In the food vacuole (pH 5) of the parasite. The explanation is based
acetophenone moiety fluoro group was replaced systematically on the crystal structure of cysteine protease showing His 67 at
with pyrrole, imidazole, benzotriazole, pyrazole, pyrrolidine, the active site of the enzyme [20]. We assumed that proton-
morpholine and piperidine to get new compounds. The anti- ation of triazolyl chalcone under weakly acidic conditions
plasmodial IC50 values of these 14 compounds are depicted may enhance their interaction with His 67 in the active sites
in Table 1. Within the chloro-series compounds 1, 2 and 7 of enzyme or vice versa (free His pKa of 6).
showed marked antiplasmodial activity. Compound 7, a tria-
zole substituted chalcone was found to be the most effective 4. Conclusion
against the parasites, and pyrrole and benzotriazole showed
comparable activities. The morpholine substituent in chloro- In vitro antiplasmodial results of 4-chloro, 4-methoxy and
series was found to be the least active (compound 5). In the 3,4,5-trimethoxy series suggested that small or medium sized
monomethoxy series, the benzotriazole group (compound 10) but highly lipophilic groups containing multiple nitrogen or
N. Mishra et al. / European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 43 (2008) 1530e1535 1533
5.2.2. 1-(4-(1H-Benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-1-yl)phenyl)-
amine in acetophenone moiety impart antiplasmodial poten- 3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one
tial. Such compounds may provide additional hydrogen bond- Yield 60%, Rf 0.68, off-white crystals, m.p. 154e155 C,
ing with histidine residue present at the active site of the MS m/z 360 (M þ 1), 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): d 6.52e
enzyme, cysteine protease. This is the first report in which 8.15 (m, 14H, Ar).
chalcones containing small highly polar, lipophilic cyclic
amines are showing antimalarial potential. 5.2.3. 1-(4-(1H-Pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl)-
More work is needed to obtain second generation version of 3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one
these interesting compounds to establish meaningful SAR. Yield 74%, Rf 0.67, off-white crystals, m.p. 152e153 C,
Compounds 1, 2 and 7 could be used as standard precursors MS m/z 309.5 (M þ 1), 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz):
for this purpose. In the meanwhile these compounds are being d 6.53e8.15 (m, 13H, Ar).
evaluated as partners in combination with artemisinin to look
for synergistic action.
5.2.4. 1-(4-(1H-Pyrrolidinl-1-yl)phenyl)-
3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one
5. Experimental protocol
Yield 72%, Rf 0.58, light yellow crystals, m.p. 208e210 C,
MS m/z 312 (M þ 1), 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): d 3.40 (t,
Melting points are determined in an open capillary and are
4H, CH2eNeCH2), d 2.50 (t, 4H, CH2eCH2e), d 7.3e8.0 (m,
uncorrected. 1H NMR was recorded on Brucker (AMX-300)
8H, Ar H).
using CDCl3 as solvent. TMS was used as internal reference
for 1H NMR. Mass spectra were recorded on a Macromass
G spectrophotometer. Elemental analysis was performed on 5.2.5. 1-(4-(1H-Morpholin-1-yl)phenyl)-
PerkineElmerSeries-II CHN analyzer. 3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one
Yield 68%, Rf 0.56, yellow crystals, m.p. 162e164 C, MS
5.1. Procedure for the synthesis of m/z 349.04 (M þ Na), 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): d 3.08 (s,
substituted acetophenone 6H, morpholinyl), d 3.05 (s, 2H, CHeCHe), d 6.68e8.0 (m,
10H, Ar H).
A solution of 4-fluoroacetophenone (5.1 ml, 40 mmol), pyr-
rolidine (40 mmol) and K2CO3 (11.1 g, 50 mmol) in dry DMF 5.2.6. 1-(4-(1H-Imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)-
(20 ml) was refluxed for 18 h at 110 C. The solvent was re- 3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one
moved in vacuo and H2O (50 ml) was added to the resultant Yield 70%, Rf 0.68, yellow crystals, m.p. 160e162 C, MS
residue. The aqueous phase was extracted with diethyl ether m/z 309.12 (Mþ), 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): d 7.50 (s, 1H,
(2 100 ml), dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and evaporated imidazolyl eNeCHeNe), d 8.05 (d, 2H, imidazolyl CHeNe
in vacuo to yield the desired product. The intermediate was CHe), d 7.18e7.79 (m, 10H, Ar).
1534 N. Mishra et al. / European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 43 (2008) 1530e1535
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