Molecular docking of novel donor-π-acceptor dicyanomethylenedihydrofuran-based fluorescent chromophores

A series of donor-π-acceptor dicyanomethylenedihydrofuran (DCDHF)-based chromophores comprising different π-aryl bridges and different terminal groups was synthesized and characterized. The chromophores were synthesized via Knoevenagel condensation of the active methyl-bearing DCDHF (electron acceptor) with a tertiary amine-containing arylaldehyde (electron donor) in dry pyridine at room temperature in the presence of a few drops of acetic acid. The synthesis approach involved the development of phenyl(thienyl)vinyl-bridged dicyanomethylenedihydrofuran dyes with a tertiary amine terminal group. Both absorption and emission spectra were explored. The strong emission properties detected using the synthesized chromophores could be attributed to intramolecular charge transfer. The chemical structures of the synthesized chromophores were verified using ¹ H/¹³ C nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Both tertiary amine-containing and arylaldehyde groups were found to influence the biological properties of the synthesized chromophores. The synthesized (DCDHF)-based hybrids were tested to examine antibacterial effectiveness. Derivatives 1 and 2 demonstrated activity towards Gram-positive bacteria rather than Gram-negative bacteria when compared with an amoxicillin antibiotic reference. Finally, molecular docking inspiration was undertaken to determine their binding relationships (PDB code: 1LNZ).