Synthesis and evaluation of 2(3H)-thiazole thiones as tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of 2(3H)-thiazole thiones 3-5 was synthesized and evaluated for tyrosinase inhibition and DPPH radical scavenging activities. Among them, 3-methyl-4-phenyl-2(3H)-thiazole thione (4a) showed good tyrosinase inhibitory activity, even better than that of the well-known tyrosinase inhibitor, namely, kojic acid. From the structure-activity point of view, although it was found that the phenolic hydroxyl group in prototype 3-5 might contribute to the scavenging activity against DPPH radicals, there was no correlation between the potency of tyrosinase inhibition and the presence of the phenolic moiety. The in silico ADME-Tox screening revealed that the drug-likeness and drug-score values of the most potent compound 4a were significantly higher than those of kojic acid.