Series of sulfonamide-substituted amide (9–11), benzamide (12–15), and
1,3-disubstituted thiourea (17–26) derivatives were synthesized from a common precursor, i.e., substituted
benzoyl chlorides. Structures of all of the synthesized compounds
were characterized by spectroscopic techniques (1H nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR),13C NMR, and Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)). All of the amide (9–15) and thiourea (17–26)
derivatives were screened against human carbonic anhydrases, hCA-II, hCA IX, and hCA-XII.
Sulfonamide-substituted amides 9, 11, and 12 were found to be excellent selective inhibitors with IC50 values of 0.18 ± 0.05, 0.17 ± 0.05, and 0.58 ±
0.05 μM against hCA II, hCA
IX, and hCA XII, respectively. Compound 9 was found to be highly selective for hCA II and about 6-fold more
potent as compared to the standard antagonist, acetazolamide. Safe
toxicity profiling of the most potent and selective compounds was
determined against normal BHK-21 and HEK-293 T cells. Molecular docking
studies were performed, which described the type of interactions between
the synthesized compounds and enzyme proteins. In addition, in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion
(ADME) studies were performed, which showed that all of the synthesized
molecules fulfilled the druggability criteria.