Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Tetrahydropyrimidine and Dihydropyridine Derivatives Against Leishmania Major.

According to structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, the chloro substituent in different positions of phenyl ring at C4 of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine (THPM) and 1,4-dihydropyridine (DHP) rings and also the length of the chain belonging to the ester groups could be important for antileishmanial activity of these compounds. Most of these compounds exhibited low cytotoxicity against macrophages. Compounds 1 h, 2a, 2b and 2c revealed higher activity than glucantime while all compounds showed lower activity toward amphotericine B. Docking studies showed that the synthesized compounds were fit well in the PTR1 pocket. Compounds 1 h and 2c indicated the highest score docking among screened compounds in PTR1 enzyme.