Solution-phase microwave assisted parallel synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico docking studies of N,N′-disubstituted thioureas derived from 3-chlorobenzoic acid

A facile and robust microwave-assisted solution phase parallel synthesis protocol was exercised for the development of a 38-member library of N,N′-disubstituted thiourea analogues (1–38) by using an identical set of conditions. The reaction time for synthesis of N,N′-disubstituted thiourea analogues was drastically reduced from a reported duration of 8–12 h for conventional methods to only 1.5–2.0 min. All the derivatives (1–38) were characterized by physico-analytical techniques such as elemental analysis in combination with FT-IR, 1H, 13C NMR and by single crystal XRD analysis have also been performed. These compounds were screened for their in vitro urease inhibition activities. Majority of compounds exhibited potent urease inhibition activities, however, the most significant activity was found for 16, with an IC50 value of 1.23 ± 0.1 μM. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds were screened for their cytotoxic potential against lungs cancer cell lines. Cell culture studies demonstrated significant toxicity of the compounds on the cell lines, and the levels of toxicity were altered in the presence of various side groups. The molecular docking studies of the most potent inhibitors were performed to identify the probable binding modes in the active site of the urease enzymes. These compounds have a great potential and significance for further investigations.

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