Synthesis, biological evaluation, docking and molecular dynamics studies of Biginelli-type tetrahydropyrimidine analogues: Antimicrobial, cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity

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Tetrahydropyrimidines have a fascinating scaffold that has garnered substantial attention from pharmacists and medicinal chemists. They are heterocyclic compounds used in anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and antioxidants therapies. Herein, a group of tetrahydropyrimidines were provided by using urea, α-ketoacid/β-ketoester, and appropriate aromatic aldehydes. Then, the antioxidant properties of the derivatives were investigated by the DPPH assay. Besides, the cytotoxicity activity of derivatives was evaluated on two MCF-7 and HepG-2 cell lines. The anti-microbial activity of derivatives was also assessed on two positive gram strains, two negative gram strains, and a fungal strain. Derivatives 4a and 4e showed the strongest antioxidant properties, with IC50s of 0.83 and 0.07 mg/mL, respectively. Compounds 4a and 4d were the most potent compounds, with IC50s of 15.81 and 12.34 µM, respectively, on both cancer cell lines. Furthermore, compounds 4b, 4j, and 4i showed the highest anti-microbial activity on S. aureus (MIC = 7.31 µM), B. subtilis (MIC = 10.81 µM), and E. coli (MIC = 11.45 µM), P. aeruginosa (MIC = 8.12 µM), and C. albicans (MIC = 12.03 µM), respectively. Then, the oral bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties of compounds were predicted. Moreover, the most possible sites of the molecules that are metabolized by the main cytochromes were estimated. Then, the in silico cardiotoxicity and Cyto-safe properties of the compounds were studied. Finally, to determine the stability of the analogues in the Eg5 active site, docking and molecular dynamics simulations were performed.