Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Imidazo[2,1-b]Thiazole based Sulfonyl Piperazines as Novel Carbonic Anhydrase II Inhibitors

A novel series of imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-sulfonyl piperazine conjugates (9aa-ee) has been synthesized and evaluated for carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory potency against four isoforms: The cytosolic isozyme hCA I, II and trans-membrane tumor-associated isoform hCA IX and hCA XII, taking acetazolamide (AAZ) as standard drug, using a stopped flow CO(2) hydrase assay. The results revealed that most of the compounds showed selective activity against hCA II whereas none of them were active against hCA I, IX, XII (K(i) > 100 µM). The physiologically dominant cytosolic isoform hCA II was inhibited by these molecules with inhibition constants in the range of 57.7–98.2 µM. This new derivative, thus, selectively inhibits hCA II over the hCA I, IX, XII isoforms, which may be used for further understanding the physiological roles of some of these isoforms in various pathologies.