Comparison of the antiplasmodial and falcipain-2 inhibitory activity of beta-amino alcohol thiolactone-chalcone and isatin-chalcone hybrids.

The synthesis and biological evaluation of two novel series of natural-product-like hybrids based on the chalcone, thiolactone and isatin scaffolds is herein described. Results for a 36-member beta-amino alcohol triazole library showed that the thiolactone-chalcones, with IC(50)s ranging from 0.68 to 6.08 microM, were more active against W2 strain Plasmodium falciparum than the isatin-chalcones with IC(50)s of 14.9 microM or less. Also of interest is falcipain-2 inhibitory activity displayed by the latter, whereas the thiolactone-chalcones lacked enzyme inhibitory activity.