Novel benzoxazole derivatives featuring rhodanine and analogs as antihypergycemic agents: synthesis, molecular docking, and biological studies

A novel series of benzoxazolyl linked benzylidene based rhodanine and their cyclic analogs were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for their α-amyloglucosidase inhibitory activity. Out of eight target compounds, two compounds (4b and 5b) displayed potent inhibitory activity against α-amyloglucosidase with IC50 values in the range of 0.24 ± 0.01–0.94 ± 0.01 µM as compared to standard drug acarbose. Among all the tested compounds, compound 5b containing rhodanine at 3-position of phenyl was found to be the most active inhibitor of α-amyloglucosidase. Docking studies showed the existence of potential H-bonding interactions between synthesized compounds and α-glucosidase which might be responsible for good biological activity.