DL0410, containing biphenyl and piperidine skeletons, was identified as an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitor through high-throughput screening assays, and further studies affirmed its efficacy and safety for Alzheimer’s disease treatment. In our study, a series of novel DL0410 derivatives were evaluated for inhibitory activities towards AChE and BuChE. Among these derivatives, compounds 6-1 and 7-6 showed stronger AChE and BuChE inhibitory activities than DL0410. Then, pharmacophore modeling and three-dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models were performed. The R2 of AChE and BuChE 3D-QSAR models for training set were found to be 0.925 and 0.883, while that of the test set were 0.850 and 0.881, respectively. Next, molecular docking methods were utilized to explore the putative binding modes. Compounds 6-1 and 7-6 could interact with the amino acid residues in the catalytic anionic site (CAS) and peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE/BuChE, which was similar with DL0410. Kinetics studies also suggested that the three compounds were all mixed-types of inhibitors. In addition, compound 6-1 showed better absorption and blood brain barrier permeability. These studies provide better insight into the inhibitory behaviors of DL0410 derivatives, which is beneficial for rational design of AChE and BuChE inhibitors in the future.

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the brain characterized by loss of memory and steady deterioration of cognition. Here, a series of symmetrical molecules containing biphenyl/bibenzyl scaffolds (12–36) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their ability to inhibit both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). A biological evaluation showed that most of these biphenyl derivatives were potent AChE and BuChE inhibitors. Among them, compound 15 displayed the greatest ability to inhibit BuChE (IC50 = 0.74 µM) and was also a good AChE inhibitor (IC50 = 1.18 µM). Compound 19 was not only a potent AChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.096 µM), but also a mild BuChE inhibitor (IC50 =1.25 µM). Overall, these results suggested that compound 19 may be a promising agent in the treatment of AD.

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