Synthesis and molecular docking studies of 1-phenyl-4-glycosyl-dihydropyridines as potent antileishmanial agents

A series of 1-phenyl-4-glycosyl-dihydropyridines (4-17 and 19-21) were prepared by the one pot multicomponent reaction of glcosyl aldehyde, beta-keto compounds and aniline or substituted aniline in the presence of TBAHS as catalyst. The compounds were screened in vitro and in vivo for their antileishmanial activities. Most of the compounds exhibited moderate to good activity against amastigotes and promastigotes of Leishmania donovani. The compounds 4, 11, 12, 13, and 17 exhibited potent in vivo activity with selectivity index (SI) values 7.43-18.93. Molecular docking studies with these compounds revealed L. donovani PTR1 as the possible target to show antileishmanial activities.