Design and Synthesis of New Thiazole Derivatives for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy as a Potential Cholinesterase Inhibitor; Toxicity Prediction and Molecular Docking Studies and Biological Evaluation

In this study, thiazole derivatives 13–23 were synthesized as novel cholinesterase inhibitors. Their structures were elucidated using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and elemental analysis techniques. The binding positions and efficiencies of the designed compounds on the enzyme were investigated through molecular docking studies, and the properties of ADMET were examined using computational methods. Cytotoxicity analyses of the synthesized compounds were performed to screen their inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in vitro. It has been determined that these compounds do not exhibit a significant cytotoxic effect on healthy endothelial cells. Although the compounds showed lower efficacy in AChE inhibition compared to the reference compound tacrine (IC50: 0.136 μM; KI: 0.46 ± 0.01 nM), they exhibited moderate inhibitory effects. Among these, compounds 16 and 23 were found to be the most potent AChE inhibitors, with IC50 values of 36.47 µM and 34.65 µM, and KI values of 22.20 ± 1.23 and 21.10 ± 1.58 µM, respectively, while compounds 15 and 20 were found to be the most potent BChE inhibitors, with IC50 values of 17.76 µM and 16.90 µM, and KI values of 14.10 ± 0.58 and 13.40 ± 0.48 µM, respectively, on other cholinesterases. These tested compounds can be considered potential candidates for further research in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).