Antioxidant activity guided isolation of a coumarin compound from Ipomoea pes-caprea (Convolvulaceae) leaves acetone extract and its biological and molecular docking studies

Introduction: Several modern drugs have been derived from plants, which contain numerous biologically active metabolites. Ipomoea pes-caprea (F: Convolvulaceae) is used in traditional medicine to treat several ailments. The present study aimed to investigate the pharmacological properties and the biological applications of Ipomoea pescaprea. Methods: The phytochemical screening analysis, estimation of phytoconstituents, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities were conducted. Based on the results of preliminary studies the bioactive extract was subjected to GC-MS analysis, and activity guided isolation of bioactive compound obtained. The isolated active principle was subjected to various spectral analyses such as: UV, FT-IR, LC-MS and H-1, C-13, DEPT, HMBC, and HSQC NMR to elucidate the structure and analyze its biological potential. Results: The results of phytochemical screening indicated the presence of various phytochemicals in Ipomoea pescaprea extracts. The acetone extract possesses a significantly high amount of metabolites with antibacterial as well as antioxidant capacity, with low IC50 values. Results of acetone extract GC-MS analysis revealed that the presence of several bioactive compounds where 2-phenyl-4H-chromen-4-one was predominant. Antioxidant activity guided isolation of acetone extract resulted in the isolation of a coumarin compound (5,7-dihydroxy-4-phenyl-2H-chromen-2-one) and the structure was confirmed using various spectral studies. The isolated 5,7-dihydroxy-4-phenyl-2H-chromen-2-one exhibited significant antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. In addition, the molecular docking study revealed that the isolated coumarin is a good inhibitor of the angiopoietin-2. Conclusions: The present study concludes that the isolated compound (5,7-dihydroxy-4-phenyl-2H-chromen-2-one) may harbor significant health benefits and it may serve as a good molecular template in pharmacology for the development of new drugs.