Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel piperidine-benzodioxole derivatives designed as potential leishmanicidal drug candidates.

A novel series of ester and carbamate derivatives was synthesized and evaluated its activities against Leishmania amazonensis. All compounds exhibited weaker leishmanicidal activity than amphotericin B. However, results indicated that substituents on the aryl-acyl subunit are important for modulation of the leishmanicidal effect. The nitro derivative showed the highest activity of the series with an IC50 = 17.24 μM, and comparable potency to the 3,4-benzodioxole ester and n-hexyl carbamate derivatives. All compounds showed low toxicity against human cells. These results revealed interesting novel piperine-like molecular pattern for exploitation in search and development of effective and low toxic antileishmanial drug candidates.