Abstract

AIM A series of 2-benzylidene-benzofuran-3-ones were designed from the structures of Ebselen analogs and aurone derivatives and synthesized in good yields. MATERIALS & METHODS The target compounds were prepared by the condensation reaction between appropriate benzofuranones with amino alkoxy aldehydes and evaluated as cholinesterase inhibitors by Ellman's method. RESULTS The in vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE)/butyrylcholinesterase activities of the synthesized compounds revealed that 7e (IC50 = 0.045 μM) is the most active compound against AChE. Furthermore, the docking study confirmed the results obtained through in vitro experiments and predicted the possible binding conformation. CONCLUSION The anticholinesterase activities of benzylidene-benzofurane-3-ones as aurone analogs revealed that the compounds bearing piperidinylethoxy residue showed better activities against AChE, introducing these compounds for further drug discovery developments. [Formula: see text].