Design, Synthesis, and Biological Activity of Donepezil: Aromatic Amine Hybrids as Anti-Alzheimerss Drugs

[Image: see text] In this study, benzylpiperidine, the active group of donepezil (DNP), was connected with the neurotransmitter phenylethylamine by square amide, in which the fat chain of phenylethylamine was reduced and the benzene rings were substituted. A series of multifunctional hybrid compounds, including DNP–aniline hybrids (1–8), DNP–benzylamine hybrids (9–14), and DNP–phenylethylamine hybrids (15–21) were obtained and their cholinesterase inhibitory activity and neuroprotection of the SH-SY5Y cell line were determined. Results showed that compound 3 exhibited excellent acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with an IC(50) value of 4.4 μM, higher than that of positive control DNP and significant neuroprotective effects against H(2)O(2)-induced oxidative damage in SH-SY5Y cells with 80.11% viability rate at 12.5 μM, much higher than that of the model group (viability rate = 53.1%). The mechanism of action of compound 3 was elucidated by molecular docking, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and immunofluorescence analysis. The results suggest that compound 3 could be further explored as a lead compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, molecular docking research indicated that the square amide group formed strong interactions with the target protein. Based on the above analysis, we believe that square amide could be an interesting construction unit in anti-AD agents.