New solid phase methodology for the synthesis of biscoumarin derivatives: experimental and in silico approaches

The simple and greener one-pot approach for the synthesis of biscoumarin derivatives using catalytic amounts of nano-MoO₃ catalyst under mortar-pestle grinding was described. The use of non-toxic and mild catalyst, cost-effectiveness, ordinary grinding, and good to the excellent yield of the final product makes this procedure a more attractive pathway for the synthesis of biologically remarkable pharmacophores. Accordingly, biscoumarin derivatives were successfully extended in the developed protocols. Next, a computational investigation was performed to identify the potential biological targets of this set of compounds. In this case, first, a similarity search on different virtual libraries was performed to find an ideal biological target for these derivatives. Results showed that the synthesized derivatives can be α-glucosidase inhibitors. In another step, molecular docking studies were carried out against human lysosomal acid-alpha-glucosidase (PDB ID: 5NN8) to determine the detailed binding modes and critical interactions with the proposed target. In silico assessments showed the gold score value in the range of 17.56 to 29.49. Additionally, molecular dynamic simulations and the MM-GBSA method of the most active derivative against α-glucosidase were conducted to study the behavior of selected compounds in the biological system. Ligand 1 stabilized after around 30 ns and participated in various interactions with Trp481, Asp518, Asp616, His674, Phe649, and Leu677 residues.