Synthesis, characterization and biological screening of N-substituted derivatives of 5-benzyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2yl-2′′-sulfanyl acetamide

A series of new N-substituted derivatives of 5-benzyl-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole-2yl-2′′-sulfanyl acetamide (6a-n) were synthesized in three phases. The first phase involved the sequentially converting phenyl acetic acid into ester, hydrazide and finally cyclized in the presence of CS2 to afford 5-benzyl-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole-2-thiol. In the second phase N-substituted-2-bromoacetamides were prepared by reacting substituted amines with bromoacetyl bromide in basic media. In the third phase, 5-benzyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol was stirred with N-substituted-2-bromoacetamides in the presence of N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) and sodium hydride (NaH) to get the target compounds. Spectral techniques were used to confirm the structures of synthesized compounds. Synthesized compounds were screened against butyrylcho linesterase (BChE), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and lipoxygenase enzymes (LOX) and were found to be relatively more active against acetylcholinesterase.