Synthesis and biological evaluation of aminomethyl and alkoxymethyl derivatives as carbonic anhydrase, acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors

Compounds containing nitrogen and sulfur atoms can be widely used in various fields such as industry, medicine, biotechnology and chemical technology. Therefore, the reactions of aminomethylation and alkoxymethylation of mercaptobenzothiazole, mercaptobenzoxazole and 2-aminothiazole were developed. Additionally, the alkoxymethyl derivatives of mercaptobenzoxazole and 2-aminothiazole were synthesized by a reaction with hemiformals, which are prepared by the reaction of alcohols and formaldehyde. In this study, the inhibitory effects of these molecules were investigated against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzymes and carbonic anhydrase I, and II isoenzymes (hCA I and II). Both hCA isoenzymes were significantly inhibited by the recently synthesized molecules, with K(i) values in the range of 58–157 nM for hCA I, and 81–215 nM for hCA II. Additionally, the K(i) parameters of these molecules for BChE and AChE were calculated in the ranges 23–88 and 18–78 nM, respectively.