Ultrasound promoted synthesis of 2-methylthio-3H-1,5-benzodiazepines using CaFe2O4 NPs as heterogeneous catalyst and their in-vitro experimental and theoretical studies as antifungal agents.

In the current study, we have developed an efficient and simple ultrasound-promoted protocol for synthesizing 2-methylthio-3H-1,5-benzodiazepine derivatives from α-oxo ketene dithioacetals using reusable CaFe₂O₄ nanoparticles as heterogeneous catalysts. The use of CaFe₂O₄ nanoparticles as catalyst under ultrasonic irradiation gave better yields in shorter reaction times in comparison to our previous synthetic strategy which used basic alumina as a solid support. The nanocatalyst was found to be applicable to diverse aromatic/heteroaromatic and cyclic ketones. In addition, the quantum mechanical calculations (DFT studies) of all the derivatives were carried out using Spartan software to determine the geometry and physiochemical properties of the derivatives and the molecular docking studies of all the optimized derivatives using Autodock Vina and Discovery Studio software to check their efficacy as antifungal agents. Based on the best docking results, In-vitro experimental studies of BDZ-13 and BDZ-19 were carried out to test their efficacy as antifungal agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]