Flurbiprofen derivatives as novel α-amylase inhibitors: Biology-oriented drug synthesis (BIODS), in vitro, and in silico evaluation

Novel derivatives of flurbiprofen 1–18 including flurbiprofen hydrazide 1, substituted aroyl hydrazides 2–9, 2-mercapto oxadiazole derivative 10, phenacyl substituted 2-mercapto oxadiazole derivatives 11–15, and benzyl substituted 2-mercapto oxadiazole derivatives 16–18 were synthesized and characterized by EI-MS, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques. All derivatives 1–18 were screened for α-amylase inhibitory activity and demonstrated a varying degree of potential ranging from IC50 = 1.04 ± 0.3 to 2.41 ± 0.09 µM as compared to the standard acarbose (IC50 = 0.9 ± 0.04 µM). Out of eighteen compounds, derivatives 2 (IC50 = 1.69 ± 0.1 µM), 3 (IC50 = 1.04 ± 0.3 µM), 9 (IC50 = 1.25 ± 1.05 µM), and 13 (IC50 = 1.6 ± 0.18 µM) found to be excellent inhibitors while rest of the compounds demonstrated comparable inhibition potential. A limited structure-activity relationship (SAR) was established by looking at the varying structural features of the library. In addition to that, in silico study was conducted to understand the binding interactions of the compounds (ligands) with the active site of α-amylase enzyme.