Abstract:
Novel quinazoline–sulfonamide derivatives (
4a
‐
n
) were synthesized and evaluated for their enzyme inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) which are associated with Alzheimer's diseases (AD). The target quinazoline–sulfonamides (
4a
‐
n
) were obtained via one‐pot multicomponent reaction of 5‐amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazole‐2‐sulfonamide (
1
) with substituted benzaldehydes (
2a
‐
i
) and cyclohexane‐1,3‐diones (
3
a
,
b
) under microwave irradiation. The reactions were performed using trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as catalyst and methanol–water mixture as green solvent. All reactions were carried out in a short period of time and the products were obtained in moderate‐to‐high yields and their structures were confirmed using
1
H‐NMR,
13
C‐NMR, Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR), and mass spectroscopic techniques. AChE and BChE enzyme inhibitions were obtained from the lowest
Ki
and IC
50
values. The lowest
Ki
values of compounds
4j
,
4d
,
4e
, and
4m
were determined to be 4.84 ± 1.96 µM, 6.32 ± 1.75 µM, 7.21 ± 3.27 µM, and 7.48 ± 0.42 µM against AChE, while the lowest
K
i
values of compounds
4d
,
4f,
and
4j
were determined to be 4.74 ± 1.98 µM, 5.87 ± 2.11 µM, and 5.67 ± 1.96 µM against BChE, respectively. Finally, in silico molecular docking interactions were carried out by using AutoDock Vina software. The low binding energy values of the compounds (
4a
‐
4n
) against AChE and BChE enzymes indicated their high inhibitory effectiveness.