Starting from ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, N,N'-disubstituted thiourea derivatives were synthesized by refluxing the acid chloride of ibuprofen with potassium thiocyanate followed by substituted anilines to get N-2- (4-(2-methylpropyl)
phenyl)propionoyl-N´-(2´-bromophenyl) thiourea (1), N-2-(4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl)propionoyl-N´-(2´-chlorophenyl) thiourea (2) and N-2-(4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl)propionoyl-N´-(3´,4´-dichlorophenyl) thiourea (3).Metal complexes (4-15) of (1-3) were synthesized by refluxing it with one equivalence salts of Co (ΙΙ), Ni(ΙΙ), Pb(ΙΙ) and Cu(Ι). Structures of all the synthesized thiourea ligands and their metal complexes were determined by FTIR and 1 HNMR spectroscopy. Shift in stretching frequency in FTIR and resonance frequency in 1 HNMR spectroscopic data suggested that the ligands and metal are coordinated to afford respective metal complexes M[L] n . The synthesized compounds were tested against urease enzyme and the results were compared with standard thiourea, as positive control. Most of the investigated compounds showed potential inhibitory activity against Jack bean urease. Compound 5 was found to be the most potent urease inhibitor with IC 50 of 14.6 µM, whereas compounds 8, 11 and 12 possessed potent urease inhibition. The tested compounds can be taken as lead molecules for gastrointestinal ulcer therapy.Key words: Amides, Thioureas, Metal complexes, Ibuprofen, Urease.
INTRODUCTIONUrease (urea aminohydrolase E.C. 3.5.1.5) is nickel containing metalloenzyme which belongs to the super family of amidohydrolases and phosphotriestreases, responsible for the hydrolytic decomposition of urea (Holm 1997). It was the first enzyme which crystallized from the plant source Canavalia ensiformis and was also the first protein containing nickel in the active site (Saeed et al. 2014;Saeed et al. 2013). Because of these characteristics urease is considered as a paradigm in the development of inorganic biochemistry. Urease catalyses the hydrolysis of urea in different plants, algae, fungi, and microorganisms to produce ammonia and carbamate (Mobley HL 1989). Enzyme catalysed hydrolysis-process occurred at a rate of approximately 10 14 times the rate of the unanalyzed reaction and considered as the final step of nitrogen metabolism in all living organisms. Different types of urease enzymes can be isolated from bacteria, fungi, algae and plants but enzymatic activity is same due to the occarance of the same order of amino acid (Bacanamwo M 2002;Benini S 1999). Urease activity due to infectious microorganism is the major reason for many deceases in humans such as development of infection stones, pyelonephritis, stomach and peptic ulcer, urinary catheter encrustation, and hepatic com (Gripenberg-Lerche C 2000; Mobley et al. 1995;Mobley HL 1989). To overcome these diverse types of problems, urease inhibitors have received special attention over the past few years. These inhibitors generally divided into two classes, substrate structural analogs like hydroxamic acid (Ko...