Inhibitory effects of sulfenimides on human and bovine carbonic anhydrase enzymes.

A series of sulfenimide derivatives (1a-i) were investigated as inhibitors of human (hCA-I, hCA-II) and bovine (bCA) carbonic anhydrase enzymes. The compounds were synthesised by the reaction of substituted thiophenols with phthalimide by means of an effective, simple and eco-friendly method and the structures were confirmed by IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, MS and elemental analysis. All derivatives except for the methyl derivative ( 1b ) exhibited effective inhibitory action at low micromolar concentrations on human isoforms, but only four derivatives ( 1e , 1f , 1h , 1i ) inhibited the bovine enzyme. The bromo derivative ( 1f) was found to be strongest inhibitor of all three enzymes with KI values of 0.023, 0.044 and 20.57 µM for hCA-I, hCA-II and bCA, respectively. Results of our study will make valuable contributions to carbonic anhydrase inhibition studies for further investigations since inhibitors of this enzyme are important molecules for medicinal chemistry.