Synthesis, molecular docking studies, and in vitro screening of barbiturates/thiobarbiturates as antibacterial and cholinesterase inhibitors

On the basis of observed biological activity of barbiturates/thiobarbiturates, a set of 13 hydrazinecarboxamide/hydrazinecarbothioamides derivatives were designed and synthesized in good to excellent yield with extensive structural characterization. These compounds were screened for antibacterial and cholinesterase inhibitory activities. Two of the compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate bactericidal activity. Compounds 10 and 4 were found to be the most active acetyl/butyryl cholinesterase inhibitor, respectively (AChEI; 10; IC50 = 40.78 mu M and BChEI; 4; IC50 = 3.31 mu M). In silico molecular docking studies were carried out to identify active interacting sites of drug and enzyme and to establish structure-activity relationships. When predicted cholinesterase binding energies were compared with the experimentally determined inhibitory concentrations (IC50), most active compounds were also found to be the most favorable for binding. The binding scores of compounds 10 and 4 were -10.2 and -9.3 kcal/mol, respectively.