Piperazine-linked 4-aminoquinoline-chalcone/ferrocenyl-chalcone conjugates: Synthesis and antiplasmodial evaluation

A series of piperazine-linked 4-aminoquinoline-chalcone/ferrocenyl-chalcone conjugates were prepared with a view to evaluate their activities against Plasmodium falciparum. The synthesized conjugates had in vitro IC₅₀ values from 0.41 to 2.38 μm against chloroquine-resistant and mefloquine-sensitive W2 strain of P. falciparum. The submicromolar activities of most of the synthesized conjugates suggest that such molecular frameworks can act as therapeutic templates for the design and synthesis of new antimalarials.