Development of new selective reversible monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitors is still essential for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Phthalonitrile compounds have been shown to display MAO inhibitory activity with MAO-B selectivity. In this study, we synthesized and evaluated the inhibitory activities of a new series of phthalonitrile compounds. Compound 3, 4 and 5 presented selective MAO-B inhibition, compound 5 being the most selective (75.16-fold). Additionally, molecular docking simulations were carried out. Investigation of binding modes of each compound with both isoforms were carried out to elaborate structure–activity relationships. Druglikeness was calculated for each compound, revealing that the lipophilicity of compound 5 (logP = 3.37) is optimal to cross membranes.
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