Antimalarial potential of naphthalene-sulfonic acid derivatives: Molecular electronic properties, vibrational assignments, and in-silico molecular docking studies

The need to discover, design and develop novel anti-malaria agent that are capable of treating and providing prophylaxis cover for malaria infections has become paramount. Herein, four novel derivatives of naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid: 5-amino-3-((4-formylphenyl)diazenyl)-4-hydroxynaphthalene-2,7disulfonic acid (AZDH1), 7-amino-3-((4-formylphenyl)diazenyl)-4-hydroxynaphathalene-2-sulfonic acid (AZDH2), 6-amino-3-((4-formylphenyl)diazenyl)-4-hydroxynaphthalene-2-sulfonic acid (AZDH3), 5-((4formylphenyl)diazenyl)-6-nitronapthalene-2-sulfonic acid (AZDH4) have been synthesized and characterized using FT-IR, UV-vis, and NMR spectroscopic techniques. The studied compounds were modeled for their molecular electronic structural properties and antimalarial activity using first principle density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31 ++ G(d, p) level of theory and in-silico molecular docking. The influence of solvation on the vibrational and excited states characteristics of the studied compounds were conducted with the intentions of assessing possible hydration and changes in absorptivity of -OH,-NH2,-SO3, and C = O functional groups in different media. The molecular docking results show that the combination of the four compounds when docked with proteins: 1RQJ, 3J7A and 6MUW revealed a mean binding affinity of -9.4, -7.6 and -8.4 kcal/mol, respectively. Because the high binding affinities indicate a high reactivity compared to the standard (artesunate), it can be said that the studied compounds are capable of inducing a protective influence against the P. berghei- exerting inflammatory response by inhibiting NF KB nuclear translocation that results to endothelial cell activation and the subsequent expression of ICAM-1 through an autonomous mechanism that kills the plasmodium parasite. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study synthesized and characterized four novel derivatives of naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid and investigated their antimalarial activity through molecular modeling and docking. The results showed that these compounds were capable of inducing a protective influence against P. berghei infection by inhibiting specific proteins. Therefore, these compounds may serve as potential candidates for antimalarial drugs.