Quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids as potent aldose reductase inhibitors: Synthesis, functional evaluation and molecular modeling study

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.08.050

A series of quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids was synthesized and tested for in vitro aldose reductase inhibitory activity. All the target compounds displayed nanomolar activity against the target enzyme. Compounds 3a, 3b, and 3e exhibited almo

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.08.050

Accepted Manuscript
Quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids as potent aldose reductase in-
hibitors: synthesis, functional evaluation and molecular modeling study
Sherihan El-sayed, Kamel Metwally, Abdalla A. El-Shanawani, Lobna M.
Abdel-Aziz, Ahmed A. El-Rashedy, Mahmoud E.S. Soliman, Luca Quattrini,
Vito Coviello, Concettina la Motta
PII:
S0960-894X(17)30852-1
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.08.050
BMCL 25244
Reference:
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
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Accepted Date:
19 July 2017
20 August 2017
22 August 2017
Please cite this article as: El-sayed, S., Metwally, K., El-Shanawani, A.A., Abdel-Aziz, L.M., El-Rashedy, A.A.,
Soliman, M.E.S., Quattrini, L., Coviello, V., Motta, C.l., Quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids as potent
aldose reductase inhibitors: synthesis, functional evaluation and molecular modeling study, Bioorganic & Medicinal
Chemistry Letters (2017), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.08.050
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Quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids as potent aldose reductase inhibitors:
synthesis, functional evaluation and molecular modeling study
Sherihan El-sayed,a Kamel Metwally,a,* Abdalla A. El-Shanawani,a Lobna M. Abdel-
Aziz,a Ahmed A. El-Rashedy,b Mahmoud E. S. Soliman, b,*
Luca Quattrini,c Vito Coviello,c Concettina la Motta c,*
aDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig,
Egypt
bSchool of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, Durban 4001, South
Africa
cDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Via Bonanno 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Author Information
Corresponding Authors
*K.M. Phone: +20 1014992285; email: kametwally@hotmail.com; C.L.M. Phone: +39
050 2219593; e-mail: concettina.lamotta@farm.unipi.it. ; M.E.S. Phone: +27 (0) 31 260
8048 Email: soliman@ukzn.ac.za
Current Author Address
V.C. Pietrasanta Pharma S.p.A., Via S. Francesco, 67, 55049 Viareggio (LU, Italy)

Abstract
A series of quinazolinone-based rhodanine-3-acetic acids was synthesized and
tested for in vitro aldose reductase inhibitory activity. All the target compounds displayed
nanomolar activity against the target enzyme. Compounds 3a, 3b, and 3e exhibited
almost 3-fold higher activity as compared to the only marketed reference drug epalrestat.
Structure-activity relationship studies indicated that bulky substituents at the 3-phenyl
ring of the quinazolinone moiety are generally not tolerated in the active site of the
enzyme. Insertion of a methoxy group on the central benzylidene ring was found to have
a variable effect on ALR-2 activity depending on the nature of peripheral quinazolinone
ring substituents. Removal of the acetic acid moiety led to inactive or weakly active
target compounds. Docking and Molecular dynamic simulations of the most active
rhodanine-3-acetic acid derivatives were also carried out, to provide the basis for further
structure-guided design of novel inhibitors
Key words: Rhodanine-3-acetic acids; aldose reductase inhibitors; molecular modeling.
The incidence of diabetes mellitus has markedly increased over the last century
due to changes in human life style and behavior.1 Estimates indicate that about 400
million patient worldwide are affected by diabetes and by the year 2030, about 10% of
world population will suffer from this chronic disease.2 More importantly, the
management of the debilitating complications associated with diabetes costs at least 10%
of overall healthcare cost in many countries.3 For these reasons, the discovery and
development of drugs for prevention and treatment of diabetic complications will remain
a major challenge to medicinal chemists. In this context, there has been a growing interest
over the last few decades in aldose reductase inhibitors as therapeutic candidates for

diabetic complications.4-26 Aldose reductase (ALR-2) is the key enzyme of the polyol
pathway through which glucose is metabolized under conditions of hyperglycemia
associated with diabetes. In the polyol pathway, glucose is reduced by aldose reductase to
sorbitol with the associated oxidation of NADPH to NADP. The accumulation of sorbitol
in cells leads to osmotic stress. The second step in the polyol pathway involves the
oxidation of sorbitol to fructose by the enzyme sorbitol dehydrogenase using NAD+ as a
cofactor. Alteration of the proportion of cytosolic NADH to NAD+ results in reductive
stress which is associated with reduced intracellular concentrations of glutathione,
activation of protein kinase C, and non-enzymatic glycation.27,28 Aldose reductase
inhibitors are categorized into two major classes: acetic acid derivatives and the cyclic
imides. The acetic acid derivatives currently available include epalrestat, tolrestat,
zenarestat, and ponalrestat. The cyclic imides include the hydantoins and their
bioisosteres such as the rhodanines, 2,4-thiazolidinediones, and the succinimides.
Sorbinil, fidarestat, and imirestat are hydantoins whereas, ranirestat and minalrestat
belong to the succinimides. (Chart 1). Unfortunately, many of these agents were
unsuccessful in clinical trials due to poor pharmacokinetics, adverse effects, or low
efficacy. Only epalrestat, which is a rhodanineacetic acid derivative, was approved for
clinical use in Japan, China and India.29 Long-term studies have revealed that epalrestat is
generally well tolerated with only mild side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and
elevation of liver enzyme levels.16,30-34 These findings urged us to address novel
rhodanineacetic acid derivatives as potential useful therapeutic candidates for the
management of diabetic complications. In the present investigation, a series of
quinazolinone-based rhodanineacetic acid derivatives was designed, synthesized, and

tested for in vitro aldose reductase inhibitory activity. Another series of representative
rhodanines lacking the acetic acid moiety was also tested for comparison purposes.
Chart 1. Chemical structure of available aldose reductase inhibitors.
A straightforward synthetic pathway was adopted to synthesize the target
compounds as outlined in Scheme 1. The starting chloromethylquinazolinones (1a-h)
were synthesized from anthranilic acid in two steps following reported procedures.35-38
The first step involves chloroacetylation of anthranilic acid using chloroacetyl chloride in
dry benzene under reflux conditions. In the second step, cyclization to the desired
chloromethylquinazolinones was achieved by direct reaction of the N-chloroacetyl
anthranilic acid derivatives with the appropriate anilines in presence of phosphorous
oxychloride as a condensing agent in dry toluene. Subsequently, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde

or vanillin was alkylated with the chloromethylquinazolinones (1a-h) in refluxing
acetonitrile under the basic conditions of potassium carbonate and in the presence of
potassium iodide to afford the aldehydes (2a-l) in good yields as previously reported by
us.39 The title rhodanineacetic acids (3a-l) were obtained in fair yields via Knoevenagel-
type condensation of the aldehydes with rhodanine-3-acetic acid in refluxing acetic acid
using β-alanine as a condensing agent. On the other hand, compounds 4a-g were obtained
by condensation of the appropriate aldehyde with rhodanine in the presence of sodium
acetate. Structures of all the target compounds were fully characterized by means of 1H
and 13C NMR spectroscopy and their purity were satisfactorily confirmed by elemental
analysis.
Scheme 1:
Reagents and conditions:
(a) Chloroacetyl chloride, benzene, reflux, 3h. (b) Substituted aniline, POCl3, toluene,
115 ºC, 3h. (c) 4-Hydroxybenzaldehyde or vanillin, K2CO3, KI, acetonitrile, reflux, 3h.
(d) Rhodanine-3-acetic acid, β-alanine, glacial acetic acid, 100 ºC, 3h. (e) Rhodanine,
sodium acetate, glacial acetic acid, reflux, 24-48 h.

All the novel synthesized compounds were tested in vitro for their aldose reductase
inhibitory activity following standard protocols.40-43 The obtained IC50 values are
reported in Table 1. Our investigation started by synthesizing and testing four
compounds of the benzylidene series, namely 3a-3d. Their functional evaluation
indicated that, moving from the hit 3a (IC50 60.9 nM), the presence of the electron-
withdrawing fluoro atom on the 3-phenyl ring of the quinazolinone core, as in 3b (IC50
55.6 nM), was tolerated while the presence of the bulkier bromo atom, as in 3c (IC50 711
nM), resulted in an almost 10-fold decrease of activity. Similarly, compound 3d (IC50 574
nM), having an electron-donating 3-methyl substituent, turned out to be less active than
the unsubstituted parent compound, 3a. We than examined the effect on ALR-2 activity
by inserting a 3-methoxy group on the central benzylidene ring. The hit compound of the
novel series, namely 3e (IC50 49.7 nM) turned out to be slightly more active than the
unsubstituted counterpart 3a (IC50 60.9 nM). On this basis, additional compounds of the
3-methoxybenzylidene series were synthesized and tested, bearing different electron-
withdrawing and electron-donating substituents on the distal phenyl ring of the
quinazolinone core. The observed functional data indicated that, regardless of both the
type of the substituent and its position on the ring, peripheral substituents have a negative
impact on ALR-2 activity. Actually, compared to the unsubstituted hit 3e (IC50 49.7 nM),
all the substituted compounds (3f-l) showed IC50 values in the low micromolar range, as
shown in Table 1. To test the importance of the presence of an acetic acid moiety, a
series of representative rhodanines 4a-g was synthesized as well, and tested for their
ALR-2 activity. All the compounds of the novel series displayed no or weak activity
against the target enzyme, as shown in Table 2.

Table 1. ALR2 inhibitory activities of rhodanine-3-acetic acid derivatives.
Code
R1
R2
IC50 (nM)a
60.9
55.6
711
H
H
3a
4-F
H
3b
4-Br
3-CH3
H
H
3c
H
574
3d
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
OCH3
-
49.7
358
3e
4-F
3f
3-Cl
4-Br
3-Br
4-CH3
3-CH3
4-CF3
-
419
3g
309
3h
401
3i
512
3j
329
3k
346
3l
170
Epalrestat
aIC50 values, means, represent the concentration required to produce 50% enzyme
inhibition. Errors ± 5% (from 3 different assays, data not shown).

Table 2. Percentage ALR2 inhibitory activities of rhodanine derivatives (4a-g).
Code
4a
R1
R2
H
Percent inhibitiona
H
48.5%
39.2%
n.a.b
n.a.b
n.a.b
4-F
H
4b
4c
4-Cl
4-Br
4-CH3
4-OCH3
H
H
H
4d
4e
H
H
52.7%
62.9%
4f
OCH3
4g
a The inhibitory effect was estimated at a concentration of 10 µM. bn.a = not active.
To propose a structural binding mode of the rhodanine-3-acetic acid derivatives when
bound to ALR2, docking experiments were carried out on the newly synthesized
compounds starting from the most active, 3e. It has been clearly proven that ALR2 can
adopt different binding site conformations, depending on the structural characteristics of
an inhibitor. To combat any computational bias, the target compound was docked into the
binding pocket of the human ALR2/NADP+-IDD594 complex (PDB code: 1US0) using
the automated Autodock Vina plugin package in UCSF chimera.44,45
Visual inspection of the docked pose with the best binding affinity (-11.05 k.cal/mol)
(Figure 1), revealed 3e to bind favorably into the polar anion-binding pocket. Upon
assessment of the residue-ligand interaction network, stabilizing hydrogen bond
interactions were illustrated with residue Tyr48 and strong electrostatic interactions

between 3e and the nicotinamide moiety of the NADP+ cofactor. The presence of the
rhodanine ring is also shown to well orient the planar and aromatic quinazolinone
fragments into the “specificity pocket”, thus creating favorable hydrophobic bonds with
Leu300.
These results validate the docked pose of the ALR2-3e complex in comparison to the
docked complex of the ALR2-4c complex of which the 4c compound docked completely
out of the binding pocket of ALR2. This concludes to that the removal of the acetic acid
moiety leads to inactive or weakly active target compounds.
B
A
NADP
LEU 300
Figure 1. Docked conformation of 3e in the active site of ALR2. A) Ligand carbon atoms are
displayed in green and NADP+ in red. B) Ligand interaction and the binding mode of compound
3e with aldose reductase receptor. The complex shows strong hydrogen bonds with TYR 48,
HOH 2062, HOH2131 at distance 2.08,3.07,2.8 A°.

Figure 2. Ligand interactions of compound 4c in complex with aldose reductase. The complex
shows hydrogen bond interactions with HOH 2062, HOH2131 at distance 2.94, 3.22, 2.24A°.
Molecular dynamics study is a significant tool to understand the stability and the binding
mode of the ligand-receptor interactions. It also helps to understand the dynamics of the
protein, which represent the true nature of protein better than ordinary docking, which
does not completely consider the dynamic of protein.46
The thermodynamic energy contribution of 3e to the total binding free energy of the
complex surmounts to the stability of 3e in the ALR2 binding pocket and thus the
stability of the complex during the simulation. Table 3 summarizes the free binding
energy of the system.

Table 3: The free binding energy calculations of compound 3e Aldose Reductase
complex during MD Using the MM-PBSA Method.
Δ EvdW
ΔEelec
ΔGgas
ΔGsolv
ΔGbind
Total
-79.26±0.148 -27.95±0.23
-107.22± 0.25 46.21±0.149
-61.00± 0.196
Energy
In conclusion, we described in this work a novel series of quinazolinone-based
rhodanine-3-acetic acid derivatives, developed as aldose reductase inhibitors. Tested in
vitro against the target enzyme, they all proved to be active, showing IC50 values in the
submicromolar/nanomolar range. Significantly, three out of the synthesized compounds,
namely 3a, 3b, and 3e, turned out to be almost 3-fold more active than the reference drug,
epalrestat. The acetic acid moiety of the compounds proved to be a key functional
element as its removal, as in compounds 4a-g, resulted in a remarkable decrease of
inhibitory efficacy. Docking studies performed on the most active compound helped to
understand the binding mode of the synthesized derivatives, thus providing the basis for
further structure-guided design hypotheses of novel analogues with higher efficacy. In
addition, exploring the selectivity of our novel ALR-2 inhibitors versus AKR1B10 and
aldehyde reductase as well as pharmacokinetics of the most potent inhibitor is currently
underway.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University for partial
financial support of this work. C.L.M acknowledges Regione Toscana for the financial

support (IDARA Project, DD650/2014).
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Graphical abstract