Synthesis, in silico, and evaluation of AChE inhibitory activity of N-phthaloylphenylglycine derivatives as potential anti-Alzheimer’s agents

Abstract Mental illnesses are one of the most relevant health problems today, among which Alzheimer’s disease (AD) stands out. This is a severe disease that entails different alterations such as chronic cognitive impairment. Commercial therapy drugs have not had the expected success due to their notable and rapid pharmacological efficacy reduction, therefore, we aimed to find new compounds capable of stopping the progression of this disease by cholinesterase inhibition. We synthesized and evaluated nine new racemic compounds (two precursors and their corresponding pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoindol-5-ones with different substituents) derived from phenylglycine as potential acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Three of them (rac-4, rac-5, and rac-6) showed good enzyme inhibition (Ki 117.5, 90.62, and 77.30 µM, respectively), with a pattern of competitive inhibition type supported by in silico and in vitro experiments, being the rac-6 derivative the best inhibitor. The structural analysis showed that the presence of the ethyl ester group in the structure favors inhibition, likewise, the presence of double bonds increases the affinity of the inhibitor for the enzyme, so these new pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoindol-5-ones derivatives might be helpful for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.