Selective synthesis of novel quinolones-amino esters as potential antibacterial and antifungal agents: Experimental, mechanistic study, docking and molecular dynamic simulations

Abstract

A new selective synthesis of novel quinoline carboxamides was developed by the N-alkylation reaction of methyl (2-oxo-1,2- dihydroquinolin-4-yl)-l-alaninate via phase transfer catalysis in a basic medium at room temperature. The compounds were obtained in excellent yields (70–90%) and characterized by 1H, 13CNMR spectroscopy and mass spectra. In addition, theoretical studies at B3LYP/6–311G(d,p) level were carried out to explain the observed selectivity of the N-alkylation reaction of compound 2. The biological activities of the synthesized compounds were studied using some bacterial and fungal strains. The results show that compounds 3h and 3i exhibit stronger antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphyloccocus aureus. Compound 3e showed high antifungal activity against Candida Albicans compared to other substituted quinoline carboxamides. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics studies were also carried out to investigate the binding affinities of some compounds with the target proteins, and the results were in good correlation with the experimental findings.