Docking studies and anti-inflammatory activity of ss-Hydroxy-ss-arylpropanoic acids

The article describes a two-step synthesis of diastereomeric 3-hydroxy-2methyl-3-( 4-biphenylyl) butanoic acids. In the first step an intermediate alpha-bromo propanoic acid 1-ethoxyethyl ester was synthesized. The second step is a new modified Reformatsky reaction in presence of Zn in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at -5 to 10 C between the previously synthesized intermediate and 4-acetylbiphenyl. Synthesis of the other studied beta-hydroxy- beta-arylpropanoic acids has already been reported. These beta-hydroxy-beta-arylpropanoic acids belong to the arylpropanoic acid class of compounds, structurally similar to the NSAIDs such as ibuprofen. The anti-inflammatory activity and gastric tolerability of the synthesized compounds were evaluated. Molecular docking experiments were carried out to identify potential COX-2 inhibitors among the beta-hydroxy- beta-aryl-alkanoic acids class. The results indicate that all compounds possess significant anti-inflammatory activity after oral administration and that the compounds 2-(9-( 9-hydroxy-fluorenyl))-2-methylpropanoic acid ( 5) and 3-hydroxy-3,3-diphenyl- propanoic acid (3) possess the strongest anti-inflammatory activity, comparable to that of ibuprofen, a standard NSAID, and that none of tested substances or ibuprofen produced any significant gastric lesions.