Synthesis of thieno[2,3-b]thiophene containing bis-heterocycles-novel pharmacophores

Abstract

Thioenethiophene derivatives represent an important class of compounds with diverse biological activities. We describe here the synthesis of a new series of thieno[2,3-b]thiophene containing bis-heterocyclic compounds 3-7. All the compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant potential, α-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase inhibiton and anticancer activity against PC-3 cell lines. Compounds 2b (IC50 = 1.3 ± 0.2 μM), 5a (IC50 = 2.3 ± 0.4 μM) and 5b (IC50 = 8.7 ± 0.1 μM) showed a potent inhibition of β-glucuronidase enzyme, more active than the standard D-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone (IC50 = 45.8 ± 2.5 μM). Compounds 5a (IC50 = 22.0 ± 0.3 μM) and 5b (IC50 = 58.4 ± 1.2 μM) were also found to be potent α-glucosidase inhibitors as compared to standard drug (acarbose, IC50 = 841 ± 1.7 μM). © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.