Design, synthesis, α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, molecular docking and QSAR studies of benzimidazole derivatives

•Selective synthesis of Benzimidazole derivatives by a green, solvent-free and one-pot method.•Structure determination using spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, 1HNMR and 13CNMR).•In vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and molecular docking studies.•Calculation of structural and physicochemical properties of synthesized compounds.•Development of QSAR model.

In this study the green, one-pot, solvent-free and selective synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives is reported. The reactions were catalyzed by ZnO/MgO containing ZnO nanoparticles as a highly effective, non-toxic and environmentally friendly catalyst. The structure of synthesized benzimidazoles was characterized using spectroscopic technics (FT-IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR). Synthesized compounds were evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory potential. Compounds 3c, 3e, 3l and 4n were potent inhibitors with IC50 values ranging from 60.7 to 168.4 μM. In silico studies were performed to explore the binding modes and interactions between enzyme and synthesized benzimidazoles. Developed linear QSAR model based on density and molecular weight could predict bioactivity of newly synthesized compounds well. Molecular docking studies revealed the availability of some hydrophobic interactions. In addition, the bioactivity of most potent compounds had good correlation with estimated free energy of binding (ΔGbinding) which was calculated according to docked best conformations.

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