Design, synthesis, docking study, α-glucosidase inhibition, and cytotoxic activities of acridine linked to thioacetamides as novel agents in treatment of type 2 diabetes.

A novel series of acridine linked to thioacetamides 9a-o were synthesized and evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory and cytotoxic activities. All the synthesized compounds exhibited excellent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in the range of IC50  = 80.0 ± 2.0-383.1 ± 2.0 µM against yeast α-glucosidase, when compared to the standard drug acarbose (IC50  = 750.0 ± 1.5 µM). Among the synthesized compounds, 2-((6-chloro-2-methoxyacridin-9-yl)thio)-N-(p-tolyl) acetamide 9b displayed the highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50  = 80.0 ± 2.0 μM). The in vitro cytotoxic assay of compounds 9a-o against MCF-7 cell line revealed that only the compounds 9d, 9c, and 9n exhibited cytotoxic activity. Cytotoxic compounds 9d, 9c, and 9n did not show cytotoxic activity against the normal human cell lines HDF. Kinetic study revealed that the most potent compound 9b is a competitive inhibitor with a Ki of 85 μM. Furthermore, the interaction modes of the most potent compounds 9b and 9f with α-glucosidase were evaluated through the molecular docking studies.