Cu-catalyzed click reaction in synthesis of eugenol derivatives as potent antimalarial agents

Eugenol(1), a terpenoid found in Ocimum, has various biological activities. The present study aims at extraction, isolation of the plant secondary metabolite eugenol (1), it's derivatisation and structure identification as bioactive molecules. Synthesis and antiplasmodial activity (in-vitro and in-vivo), of a series of fourteen novel eugenol-based 1,2,3-triazole derivatives was done in the present study. Derivatives 5a-5n showed good antimalarial activity against the strain Plasmodium falciparum NF₅₄. Derivative 5 m, IC₅₀ at 2.85 µM was found to be several times better than its precursor 1 (106.82 µM) whereas the derivative 5n showed three fold better activity than compound 1, in vitro. The structure-activity relationship of the synthesised compounds indicated that the presence of triazole ring in eugenol analogues is responsible for their good activity. Compound 5m, was further evaluated for in-vivo antimalarial activity which showed about 79% parasitemia suppression. It is the first report on antimalarial activity of triazole eugenol derivatives.