Synthesis and biophysical evaluation of arylhydrazono-1H-2-indolinones as β-amyloid aggregation inhibitors

► The isatin-3-phenylhydrazone proves to be a scaffold for new class of low-molecular weight inhibitors of Aβ1-40 aggregation. ► HB and hydrophobic interactions play a significant role in the binding to Aβ1-40. ► ThT fluorescence spectroscopy assay shows that most of examinated compounds are active at micromolar concentration; three of them, in particular, show high inhibition activity with IC50 values of 0.4, 1.1 and 1.6 μM. ► TEM and DLS kinetic studies, carried out on a selected isatin-3-arylhydrazone derivative, show a delayed and lowered fibril formation in presence of the inhibitor.