JOURNAL OF THE CHINESE CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Synthesis, crystal structure elucidation, DFT analysis, drug-likeness and ADMET evaluation and molecular docking studies of triazole derivatives: Binary inhibition of spike protein and ACE2 receptor protein of COVID-19
Murugavel S, Vasudevan P, Chandrasekaran R, Archana V and Ponnuswany A
The recent incidence of terrible acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) has presently experienced some noteworthy mutations since its discovery in 2019 in Wuhan, China. The present research work focuses on the synthesis of three triazole derivatives (BMTPP, BMTTP, and BMTIP) and their inhibition activities against SARS-Cov-2 spike and ACE2 receptor proteins. The crystal structure for BMTTP was determined by the SCXRD method and optimized geometrical parameters for the three triazole derivatives were obtained by DFT calculations. HOMO-LUMO, Global reactive descriptors [GRD], and Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) investigations exposed that all three compounds have biological properties. The drug-likeness ability of the synthesized compounds was examined using Molinspiration and a pre-ADMET online Server. Further, to explore the binding nature of three synthesized compounds with SARS-Cov-2 spike proteins/ACE2 receptor molecular docking studies were executed. The outcomes we obtained from molecular docking simulation studies suggest that the synthesized triazole derivatives may be well utilized as curing medicines against COVID-19. Ultimately, animal tests and precise clinical tests are required to prove the potent nature of these compounds against COVID-19. Finally, the present outcomes must be proved to utilize in-vitro and in-vivo antiviral methods.
Cytotoxicity, anti-microbial studies of M(II)-dithiocarbamate complexes, and molecular docking study against SARS COV2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
Al-Janabi ASM, Saleh AM and Hatshan MR
Ten transition metal dithiocarbamate (DTC)complexes of the type [M( -EtDT)] (), and [M( -PyDT)] () (where M = Co, Ni, Cu, Pd, and Pt; EtDT = diethyl dithiocarbamate; PyDT = pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate) were synthesized and characterized by different methods. The dithiocarbamate acted as bidentate chelating ligands to afford a tetrahedral complexes with Co(II) ion and square planner with other transition metal ions. The dithiocarbamate complexes showed good activity against the pathogen bacteria species. The results showed the Pt-dithiocarbamate complexes are more active against all the tested bacteria than the Pd-dithiocarbamate complex. The dithiocarbamate complexes displayed the maximum inhibition zone against bacteria, whereas the lowest activity of the dithiocarbamate against bacteria. The cytotoxicity of the Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes was screened against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and the complexes showed moderate activity compared with the -platin. The results indicated that the MCF7 cells treated with 500 μg\ml of ligands and Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes after 24 hr exposure showed intercellular space and dead cells. Finally, molecular docking studies were carried out to examine the binding mode of the synthesized compounds against the proposed target; SARS COV2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.
Charge transfer enhanced magnetic correlations in type-II multiferroic CoTeO
Lee CH, Batsaikhan E, Ma MH, Li WH, Wang CW, Wu CM, Yang HD, Lynn JW and Berger H
Magnetic structure of the Co ions in monoclinic CoTeO in the antiferroelectric state at 16 K has been determined by neutron powder together with single-crystal diffractions. The indices of the magnetic reflections that appear at the incommensurate positions were determined by diffractions from a single crystal, which allow to uniquely identify the magnetic modulation vector. There are two crystallographically distinct Co layers. Magnetic incommensurability appears in the Co spins in the layers comprising zig-zag chains, with a magnetic modulation vector of (0.357, 0.103, 0.121) at 3 K but changes to (0.4439, 0, 0.137) at 16 K, while the Co ions in the honeycomb webs form a collinear antiferromagnetic structure. Thermal reduction rate of the Co moments in the honeycomb webs was found to be much smaller than those in the zigzag chains. Shifting of large amounts of electronic charge into the Co─O bonds in the honeycomb webs on warming is used to understand the behavior.
Natural products as inspiration for the development of new synthetic methods
Ma Z and Chen C
Natural products have played an important role in shaping modern synthetic organic chemistry. In particular, their complex molecular skeletons have stimulated the development of many new synthetic methods. We highlight in this article some recent examples of synthetic design inspired by the biosynthesis of natural products.
Design of Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) Inhibitors by Virtual Lead Optimization and Screening
Torres JE, Baldiris R and Vivas-Reyes R
A group of presumed drug-like molecules that possess high affinity for angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 were computationally designed. This enzyme is a promising new target in both cardiorenal disease and some coronavirus infections. A set of substrate analogous molecules were optimized by means of the LeapFrog module of the SYBYL package. Later, Molinspiration and Molsoft were used for screening out the compounds with low oral bioavailability. Similarly, OSIRIS was used for screening out the compounds having serious side effects. At the end of several stages of screening, seven candidates to anti-viral drugs fulfiling all the evaluated criteria were obtained. They are amenable for future studies and . These designed ligands were finally evaluated by Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship studies. 21 molecules were used to carry out the qsar models. Fom these four molecules were taken as external sets yielding models with = 0.652 and = 0.962 values.
Homology Models and Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Main Proteinase from Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Liu HL, Lin JC, Ho Y, Hsieh WC, Chen CW and Su YC
In this study, two structural models (denoted as MST and MSH) of the main proteinase (M) from the novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) were constructed based on the crystallographic structures of M from transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV) (MT) and human coronavirus HcoV-229E (MH), respectively. Various 200 ps molecular dynamics simulations were subsequently performed to investigate the dynamics behaviors of several structural features. Both MST and MSH exhibit similar folds as their respective template proteins. These structural models reveal three distinct functional domains as well as an intervening loop connecting domains II and III as found in both template proteins. In addition, domain III of these structures exhibits the least secondary structural conservation. A catalytic cleft containing the substrate binding subsites S1 and the S2 between domains I and II are also observed in these structural models. Although these structures share many common features, the most significant difference occurs at the S2 subsite, where the amino acid residues lining up this subsite are least conserved. It may be a critical challenge for designing anti-SARS drugs by simply screening the known database of proteinase inhibitors.