Mohamed A. Ibrahim

Synthesis and antibacterial evaluation of amino acid-antibiotic conjugates.

Amino acid conjugates of quinolone, metronidazole and sulfadiazine antibiotics were synthesized in good yields using benzotriazole methodology. All the conjugates were screened for their antibacterial activity using methods adapted from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Antibiotic conjugates were tested for activity in four medically relevant organisms; Staphylococcus aureus (RN4220), Escherichia coli (DH5α), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1), and Bacillus subtilis (168). Several antibiotic conjugates show promising results against several of the strains screened.

On the spectroscopic analyses of (E)-3-(dicyclopropyl methylene)-dihydro-4-[1-(2,5 dimethylfuran-3-yl) ethylidene]furan-2,5-dione

In this work, a combined experimental and theoretical study on molecular structure and vibrational frequencies of (E)-3-(dicyclopropyl methylene)-dihydro-4-[1-(2,5 dimethylfuran-3-yl) ethylidene] furan-2,5-dione [DCPF] were reported. The FT-IR spectra of DCPF isomers are recorded in the solid phase. The equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, thermo-chemical parameters, total dipole moment and HOMO-LUMO energies are calculated by density functional theory DFT/B3LYP utilizing 6-311G(d,p) basis set. Results showed that scaled frequencies are in good agreement with experimental values. The HOMOs and the LUMOs energies of DCPF isomers were 3.8 and 2.7eV for E and C isomers,respectively.

Macrocyclic peptidomimetics with antimicrobial activity: synthesis, bioassay, and molecular modeling studies.

Novel, cyclic peptidomimetics were synthesized by facile acylation reactions using benzotriazole chemistry. Microbiological testing of the synthesized compounds revealed an exceptionally high activity against Candida albicans with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) two orders of magnitude lower than the MIC of the antifungal reference drug amphotericin B. A strikingly high activity was also observed against three Gram-negative bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris), two of which are known human pathogens. Thus the discovered chemotype is a potential polypharmacological agent. The toxicity against mammalian tumor cells was found to be low, as demonstrated in five different human cell lines (HeLa, cervical; PC-3, prostate; MCF-7, breast; HepG2, liver; and HCT-116, colon). The internal consistency of the experimental data was studied using 3D-pharmacophore and 2D-QSAR.

Synthesis and antimalarial bioassay of quinine - peptide conjugates.

Amino acid and peptide conjugates of quinine were synthesized using microwave irradiation in 52–95% yields using benzotriazole methodology. The majority of these conjugates retain in vitro antimalarial activity with IC50 values below 100 nm, similar to quinine.

FT-IR spectroscopic analyses of 3-Methyl-5-Pyrazolone (MP).

In the present work both experimental and computational FT-IR spectroscopic studies on 3-Methyl-5-Pyrazolone (MP) were reported. Experimental FT-IR spectrum for MP compound is recorded in powder form. Important physical parameters were reported such as structural parameters, vibrational frequencies, entropy, total energy, total dipole moment and HOMO-LUMO energy gap using DFT/B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) basis set. MP molecule has a total dipole moment of 2.83 Debye and HOMO-LUMO energy gap of 5.80 eV. Results indicate also that exposure to UV changes the spin from singlet to doublet state; one can conclude that MP compound may undergo anomalous Zeeman like effect.

Design, synthesis, and molecular modelling of pyridazinone and phthalazinone derivatives as protein kinases inhibitors

The design and synthesis of pyridazinone and phthalazinone derivatives are described. Newly synthesized compounds were tested on a panel of four kinases in order to evaluate their activity and potential selectivity. In addition, the promising compounds were tested on four cancer cell lines to examine cytotoxic effects. The compounds inhibited DYRK1A and GSK3 with different activity. SAR analysis and docking calculations were carried out to aid in the interpretation of the results. Taken together, our findings suggest that pyridazinone and phthalazinone scaffolds are interesting starting points for design of potent GSK3 and DYRK1A inhibitors.

On the spectroscopic analyses of thioindigo dye.

A combined experimental and theoretical study on molecular structure and vibrational frequencies of thioindigo was reported. The FT-IR spectrum of thioindigo is recorded in the solid phase. The equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, thermo-chemical parameters, total dipole moment and HOMO-LUMO energies are calculated by density functional theory DFT/B3LYP utilizing 6-311G(d,p) basis set. Results showed that cis-isomer is highly recommended to be a promising structure for many applications in optoelectronic devices due to its high calculated dipole moment value (3.44 Debye) which indicates its high reactivity to interact with the surrounding molecules as compared to the trans-isomer which has no dipole moment. Both isomers have a similar HOMO-LUMO energy gap, of 3.02 eV (cis-isomer) and 2.78 eV (trans-isomer).

Similarity analysis, synthesis, and bioassay of antibacterial cyclic peptidomimetics

Summary The chemical similarity of antibacterial cyclic peptides and peptidomimetics was studied in order to identify new promising cyclic scaffolds. A large descriptor space coupled with cluster analysis was employed to digitize known antibacterial structures and to gauge the potential of new peptidomimetic macrocycles, which were conveniently synthesized by acylbenzotriazole methodology. Some of the synthesized compounds were tested against an array of microorganisms and showed antibacterial activity against Bordetella bronchistepica, Micrococcus luteus, and Salmonella typhimurium.

Gabapentin hybrid peptides and bioconjugates

Synthetic approaches to gabapentin bioconjugates that overcome the tendency of gabapentin to cyclize into its γ-lactam are studied. Gabapentin was converted by N-acylation at its N-terminus into di-, tri-, and tetrapeptides (L-Ala-Gbp, L-Val-Gbp, L-Ala-L-Phe-Gbp, Gly-L-Ala-β-Ala-Gbp). Carboxyl-activated Boc-protected gabapentin was used to N-, O-, and S-acylate small peptides and hormones to give conjugates that could also provide prodrugs containing conformationally constrained gabapentin units.

New PDE4 inhibitors based on pharmacophoric similarity between papaverine and tofisopam

Pharmacophoric comparison between papaverine and tofisopam led to identify three new series of micro- to sub-micromolar inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-4, including 7,8-dialkoxy-2,3-benzodiazepin-4-one derivatives, 7,8-dialkoxy-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one derivatives, and dialkoxybenzophenone derivatives.