Acetylcholinesterase and Cytotoxic Activity of Chemical Constituents of Clutia lanceolata Leaves and its Molecular Docking Study

ABSTRACT: Phytochemical investigations of the ethanolic extract of leaves of Clutia lanceolata (Family: Euphorbiaceae) resulted in the isolation of four compounds viz. 3,4-dihydroxy-2-methylbenzoic acid (1), 2,2′-dihydroxy-1,1′-binaphthyl (2), 1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthracene-9,10-dione (3) and 5-hydroxy-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)hepta-1,4,6-trien-3-one (4). Although all the isolated compounds were known but this was the first report from this plant source. Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and physical evidences viz. elemental analysis, FT-IR, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and mass spectral analysis. Structure of compound 2 and 4 was further authenticated by single-crystal X-ray analysis and density functional theory calculations. The isolated compounds (1–4) were screened for AChE enzyme inhibition assay in which compound 3 and 4 were found to be more potent AChE inhibitor. Molecular docking study of potent AChE inhibitor was performed to find the probable binding mode of the compounds into the active site of receptor. Moreover, the isolated compounds were also screened for in vivo cytotoxicity by brine shrimp lethality assay. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13659-016-0110-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.