Active compounds from a diverse library of triazolothiadiazole and triazolothiadiazine scaffolds: synthesis, crystal structure determination, cytotoxicity, cholinesterase inhibitory activity, and binding mode analysis.

In an effort to identify novel cholinesterase candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a diverse array of potentially bioactive compounds including triazolothiadiazoles (4a-h and 5a-f) and triazolothiadiazines (6a-h) was obtained in good yields through the cyclocondensation reaction of 4-amino-5-(pyridin-3-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol (3) with various substituted aryl/heteroaryl/aryloxy acids and phenacyl bromides, respectively. The structures of newly prepared compounds were confirmed by IR, (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy and, in case of 4a, by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The purity of the synthesized compounds was ascertained by elemental analysis. The newly synthesized conjugated heterocycles were screened for cholinesterase inhibitory activity against electric eel acetylcholinesterase (EeAChE) and horse serum butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE). Among the evaluated hybrids, several compounds were identified as potent inhibitors. Compounds 5b and 5d were most active with an IC50 value of 3.09 ± 0.154 and 11.3 ± 0.267 μM, respectively, against acetylcholinesterase, whereas 5b, 6a and 6g were most potent against butyrylcholinesterase, with an IC50 of 0.585 ± 0.154, 0.781 ± 0.213, and 1.09 ± 0.156 μM, respectively, compared to neostigmine and donepezil as standard drugs. The synthesized heteroaromatic compounds were also tested for their cytotoxic potential against lung carcinoma (H157) and vero cell lines. Among them, compound 6h exhibited highest antiproliferative activity against H157 cell lines, with IC50 value of 0.96 ± 0.43 μM at 1mM concentration as compared to vincristine (IC50=1.03 ± 0.04 μM), standard drug used in this study.