Highly functionalized 2-amino-4H-pyrans as potent cholinesterase inhibitors

Novel highly functionalized 2-amino-4H-pyrans were achieved in excellent yields under simple grinding at ambient temperature and were assessed for their potential for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). The 2-amino-4H-pyran bearing nitro groups on both the aryl rings showed the highest activity, with an IC50 of 1.98 +/- 0.09 mu M against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and 10.62 +/- 0.21 mu M against butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), the inhibition mechanisms on AChE and BChE receptors were revealed by means of molecular docking simulations.