<i>N</i>-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzamide derivatives as potential memory enhancers: synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular simulation studies

<p>The present paper describes the synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular simulation studies of a series of <i>N</i>-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzamide derivatives with <i>N,N</i>-dialkylaminoethoxy/propoxy moiety as potential memory enhancers with acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting activity having IC₅₀ in low micromolar range (4.0–16.5 μM). All the compounds showed a good degree of agreement between <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> results as most of these derivatives showed dose-dependent increase in percent retention. Compound <b>10a</b> showed significant % retention of 84.73 ± 4.51 as compared to piracetam (46.88 ± 5.42) at 3 mg kg⁻¹ and also exhibited a maximal percent inhibition of 97% at 50 μM. Molecular docking, MM-GBSA and molecular simulation studies were performed establishing a correlation between the experimental biology and <i>in silico</i> results. <i>In silico</i> results indicate that all the compounds have better docking scores and predicted binding free energies as compared to cocrystallized ligand with the best potent ligand retaining conserved hydrophobic interactions with residues of catalytic triad (HIS447), catalytic anionic site (CAS) (TRP86, TYR337, PHE338) and peripheral anionic site (PAS) (TYR72, TYR124, TRP286 and TYR341). Root mean square deviation (RMSD = 2.4 Å) and root mean square fluctuations of <b>10a</b>–AChE complex during simulation proved its stable nature in binding toward acetylcholinesterase. The docked conformation of <b>10a</b> and other analogs at the binding site have also been simulated with polar and nonpolar interactions interlining the gorge residues from PAS to catalytic triad.</p