Design, Synthesis, and Quantum Chemical Calculations of Triazole-Based Aroylhydrazone Molecules: Dual Assessment of Antioxidant Properties via in vitro and in silico Approaches

Abstract

In this study, five novel Triazole-Based Aroylhydrazone compounds (6a-e) were synthesized in high yields (87-79%), starting from deferasirox which has known iron chelator, and characterized with NMR, FTIR, Mass, and UV-vis spectroscopic methods. Quantum chemical calculations of all synthesized molecules were performed at the DFT/B3LYP/6,311G(d,p) level. It was observed that both theoretical and experimental spectral values were compatible. Optimized molecular geometries were acquired from DFT calculations and used in molecular docking studies. Tyrosinase (PDB ID: 3NM8) protein, which is a related antioxidant, was utilized in molecular docking studies. 6d-3NM8 complex had the highest docking score with the -10.1 kcal/mol. Stabilization of the 6d-3NM8 complex during 100 ns was determined via molecular dynamics simulations. Intramolecular interactions of all molecules were also analyzed by NCI-RDG analysis. The frequently used cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity method (CUPRAC) was used to determine the antioxidant activity of synthesized compounds and Trolox which is unknown in the literature on its activity in DMSO. The highest TEAC value was 1.76 (6d) while the lowest one was 1.34 (6e). It is possible to say that the synthesized substance 6d has the potential to be an antioxidant reagent based on the results of in vitro and in silico antioxidant activity. An explanation of the reason for using the CUPRAC method was added to the manuscript.