1,2,3-Triazole derivatives as antitubercular agents: synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking study

Abstract

Searching for new active molecules against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Ra, a small focused library of 1,2,3-triazoles has been efficiently prepared via a click chemistry approach. The newly synthesized compounds were tested against drug-sensitive MTB. Several derivatives were found to be promising inhibitors of MTB characterized by lower MIC values (5.8–29.9 μg mL⁻¹). Among all the synthesized 31 compounds, 15e was the most active compound against MTB. Based on the results from the anti-tubercular activity, SAR for the synthesized series has been developed. The active compounds from the anti-tubercular study were further tested for anti-proliferative activity against THP-1, A549 and PANC-1 cell lines using MTT assay and showed no significant cytotoxic activity against these three cell lines except THP-1 at the maximum concentration evaluated. Further, the synthesized compounds were found to have potential antioxidant activities with an IC₅₀ range of 10.1–37.3 μg mL⁻¹. The molecular docking study of the synthesized compounds was performed against the DprE1 enzyme of MTB to understand the binding interactions. Moreover, the synthesized compounds were also analysed for ADME properties and all the experimental results promote us to consider this series as a starting point for the development of novel and more potent anti-tubercular agents in the future.