Synthesis and molecular modeling studies of 3-chloro-4-substituted-1-(8-hydroxy-quinolin-5-yl)-azetidin-2-ones as novel anti-filarial agents.

A series of 3-chloro-4-substituted-1-(8-hydroxy-quinolin-5-yl)-azetidin-2-ones were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anti-filarial activity. To pre-assess the anti-filarial behavior of synthesized compounds (V(a-f)) on a structural basis, automated docking studies were carried out with Molecular Design Suite (MDS v 3.5) into the active site of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) enzyme; scoring functions of these compounds at the active site of the GST enzyme were used for correlation with observed activity. Compounds V(e) and V(f) have shown good affinity for receptor GST, as well as in vitro anti-filarial potency.