Synthesis, Characterization and Assessment of Antioxidant and Melanogenic Inhibitory Properties of Edaravone Derivatives

A series of edaravone derivatives and the corresponding Cu(II) complexes were synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as IR, UV, NMR and elemental analysis. Antioxidant activities of all compounds were examined using free radical scavenging methods such as hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity (HPSA), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2-2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) assays. All of the tested compounds exhibited good antioxidant activity. Further, the frontier orbital energy levels, as well as various chemical properties, were determined using the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The MEP maps of all of the derivatives were plotted to identify the nucleophilic and electrophilic reactive sites. Further, binding energies of all of the organic compounds with the protein tyrosinase was investigated to determine their potential anti-melanogenic applications. The selected ligand, <b>L6</b> was subjected to molecular dynamics simulation analysis to determine the stability of the ligand-protein complex. The MD simulation was performed (150 ns) to estimate the stability of the tyrosinase-<b>L6</b> complex. Other key parameters, such as, RMSD, RMSF, Rg, hydrogen bonds, SASA and MMPBSA were also analyzed to understand the interaction of <b>L6</b> with the tyrosinase protein.