Molecules (Nov 2016)

Synthesis and In Vitro Anti Leishmania amazonensis Biological Screening of Morita-Baylis-Hillman Adducts Prepared from Eugenol, Thymol and Carvacrol

  • Francisco José Seixas Xavier,
  • Klinger Antonio da Franca Rodrigues,
  • Ramon Guerra de Oliveira,
  • Claudio Gabriel Lima Junior,
  • Juliana da Câmara Rocha,
  • Tatjana Souza Lima Keesen,
  • Marcia Rosa de Oliveira,
  • Fábio Pedrosa Lins Silva,
  • Mário Luiz Araújo de Almeida Vasconcellos

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules21111483
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 11
p. 1483

Abstract

Read online

Leishmaniasis represents a series of severe neglected tropical diseases caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and is widely distributed around the world. Here, we present the syntheses of Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts (MBHAs) prepared from eugenol, thymol and carvacrol, and their bioevaluation against promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. The new MBHAs are prepared in two steps from essential oils in moderate to good yields and present IC50 values in the range of 22.30–4.71 μM. Moreover, the selectivity index to the most potent compound is very high (SIrb > 84.92), far better than that of Glucantime® (SIrb 1.39) and amphotericin B (SIrb = 22.34). Conformational analysis were carried out at the M062X//6-31+G(d,p) level of theory to corroborate a hypothesis about the nitroaromatic bioreduction mechanism.

Keywords