Synthesis and multi-spectroscopic DNA binding study of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives of fatty acid

•Synthesis of a series of fatty acid derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole has been described.•The binding affinity of 3a and 6a with CT-DNA has been evaluated using various spectroscopic studies.•This work can benefit in understanding the binding mechanism of small heterocyclic molecules at molecular level.

A facile and convenient synthesis of a series of fatty acid derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole has been described. The key step of this protocol is the cyclization of acyl thiosemicarbazides via iodobenzene diacetate and methanesulfonic acid under mild conditions. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized by FT-IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR and mass spectral study. The binding affinity of 5-(pentadecyl)-N-propenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine (3a) and 5-(heptadecyl)-2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole (6a) with CT-DNA has been evaluated by UV, fluorescence, Circular Dichroism (CD) and thermal denaturation studies. It has been found that these small and planer heteroaromatic compounds are capable of binding to the minor groove region of DNA.

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