Design, synthesis, computational molecular docking studies of novel heterocyclics bearing 1,2,4-triazole, 1,3,4-oxadiazole conjugates as potent antibacterial and antitubercular agents

J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2023 Jun 20:1-14. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2226743. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis, and characterization of a new series of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives based on azaindole acetamides and assigned as potential antibacterial and antitubercular substances. The structures of these compounds were established by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS spectral analysis. In preliminary antibacterial studies, analogues 6b, 6d, and 6e were found to be most effective against S. aureus with MIC of 12.5, 6.25, and 12.5 μg/mL, whereas 8d displayed excellent activity against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli bacterial strains with zones of inhibition 12.5, 25, and 12.5 μg/mL respectively. Particularly, the prepared scaffolds 8c, 8d, and 8e showed remarkable antifungal activity with MIC value 12.5, 12.5, and 6.25 μg/mL against A. flavus and 6d, 6c producing an increase in the activity against C. Albicans with zones of inhibition 12.5 and 12.5 μg/mL respectively. Also, through the antitubercular studies, we found that compounds 6e and 8b have a strong activity with M. tuberculosis H37Rv with MICs 3.26, and 6.48 μg/mL, respectively. The protein stability, fluctuations of APO-Protein, and protein-ligand complexes were investigated through Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations studies using Desmond Maestro 11.3, and potential lead molecules were identified. Our findings were further confirmed using molecular docking, revealing that azaindole based ligand 6e, 6f, and 8a has strong hydrophobic Tyr179, Trp183, Ile177, Ile445, and H-bondings interactions Arg151 and Arg454 through molecular dynamics simulation studies, making it potential biological compound. These compounds were further evaluated for their ADMET and physicochemical properties by using SwissADME.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Keywords: 1,2,4–triazoles; 1,3,4–oxadiazoles; ADMET; antibacterial activity; antifungal activity; docking analysis; tuberculosis.