Synthesis and in vitro antiplasmodial evaluation of 7-chloroquinoline-chalcone and 7-chloroquinoline-ferrocenylchalcone conjugates.

The manuscript describes the synthesis of novel amide tethered 7-chloroquinoline-chalcone and 7-chloroquinoline-ferrocenylchalcone bifunctional hybrids and their evaluation as antimalarial agents against W2 resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum. The antiplasmodial activity of 7-chloroquinoline-ferrocenylchalcones was found to be less than their corresponding simple chalcone conjugates. The presence of a methoxy substituent at para position of ring B on chalcones and longer alkyl chain length markedly improved the antiplasmodial profiles of the synthesized scaffolds with the most potent of the test compound exhibiting an IC50 value of 17.8 nM.