Structure-Activity Relationship and Antimicrobial Evaluation of N-Phenylpyrazole Curcumin Derivatives

Abstract

Background: Curcumin, one of the most important pharmacologically significant natural products, has gained significant consideration among scientists for decades since its multipharmacological activities. 1, 3-Dicarbonyl moiety of curcumin was found to be accountable for the rapid degradation of curcumin molecule. The aim of present work is to replace 1, 3-dicarbonyl moiety of curcumin by pyrazole and phenylpyrazole derivatives with a view to improving its stability and to investigate the role of substitution in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin on its antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria. Methods: Pyrazole derivatives of curcumin were prepared by heating curcumin with phenyhydrazine/ substituted phenyhydrazine derivatives in AcOH. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography. Structures of purified compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR and Mass spectroscopy. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity by the microdilution broth susceptibility test method against gram positive (S. aureus) and gram negative (E. coli). Results: Effects of substitution in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin derivatives against S. aureus and E. coli were studied. The most active N-(3-Nitrophenylpyrazole) curcumin (12) exhibits twenty-fold more potency against S. aureus (MIC: 10μg/mL)) and N-(2-Fluoroophenylpyrazole) curcumin (5) fivefold more potency against E. coli (MIC; 50 μg/mL) than N-phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Whereas, a remarkable decline in anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli was observed when electron donating groups were incorporated in N-phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Comparative studies of synthesized compounds suggest the effects of electron withdrawing and electron donating groups on unsubstituted phenylpyrazole curcumin (4). Conclusion: The structure-activity relationship (SAR) results indicated that the electron withdrawing and electron donating at N-phenylpyrazole curcumin played key roles for their bacterial inhibitory effects. The results of the antibacterial evaluation showed that the synthesized pyrazole derivatives of curcumin displayed moderate to very high activity in S. aureus. In conclusion, the series of novel curcumin derivatives were designed, synthesized and tested for their antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. Among them, N-(3-Nitrophenylpyrazole curcumin; 12) was most active against S. aureus (Gram-positive) and N-(2-Fluoroophenylpyrazole) curcumin (5) against E. coli (Gram-negative) bacteria.