Sonochemical synthesis of 3-arylsufonyl indole derivatives as potential inhibitors of cyclooxygenases

5 6 2025

Authors: Mallesham Baldha, Jyothi Shivanoori, Sunder Kumar Kolli, Ravikumar Kapavarapu, Manojit Pal

A small library of molecules based on the 3-arylsufonyl indole template was examined as the potential inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an important target for the identification and development of anti-inflammatory agents. The targeted compounds were synthesized via the reaction of 2-aryl indole with arylsulfonyl chloride in the presence of In(OTf)3 under ultrasound irradiation. The short duration, mild conditions, readily available starting materials and catalyst etc. are key features of the current sulfonylation approach. When tested in vitro against COX-2 using an enzyme based assay six compounds showed good (>50 %) inhibition that was supported by the in silico docking studies. Indeed, in addition to participating in a large number of hydrophobic (especially the van der Waals) interactions these compounds formed the critical H-bond via their sulphonyl (S=O) group with ARG120 or ALA527 residue of …