Synthesis, molecular docking, and biological activity of polyfluoroalkyl dihydroazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazines as selective carboxylesterase inhibitors

Abstract

To search for effective and selective inhibitors of carboxylesterase (CaE), a series of 7-hydroxy-7-polyfluoroalkyl-4,7-dihydroazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazines has been synthesized. Their inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and CaE were investigated using the methods of enzyme kinetics and molecular docking. It was shown that the tested compounds are reversible selective CaE inhibitors of mixed type. Elongation of the polyfluoroalkyl substituent and the presence of an ester, preferably the ethoxycarbonyl group, enhance inhibitory activity toward CaE. Furthermore, the compounds with a tetrazole ring are more active against CaE than their triazole analogues. The obtained kinetic data are well explained by the results of molecular docking, according to which there is a similar orientation of triazolo- and tetrazolotriazines in the active site of CaE and the opposite one for pyrazolotriazines. In the 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assay, all of the studied tetrazolotriazines and some pyrazolotriazines demonstrated good antiradical activity comparable with a standard antioxidant, Trolox. The leading compounds were nonafluorobutyl substituted tetrazolo- and 7-phenylpyrazolotriazines, which possess effective and selective CaE inhibitory activity as well as additional useful radical-scavenging properties.