Synthetic nicotinic/isonicotinic thiosemicarbazides: In vitro urease inhibitory activities and molecular docking studies

Nicotinic and isonicotinic thiosemicarbazide or hydrazine carbothioamides 3–27 were synthesized and the structures of synthetic compounds were elucidated by various spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, ¹H-, and ¹³C NMR. Synthetic derivatives were evaluated for their urease inhibitory activity which revealed that except few all derivatives demonstrated excellent inhibition in the range of IC₅₀ values of 1.21–51.42 μM as compared to the standard thiourea (IC₅₀ = 21.25 ± 0.13 μM). Among the twenty-five synthetic derivatives nineteen 1–5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14–18, 20–22, 24–27 were found to be more active showing IC₅₀ values between 1.13 and 19.74 μM showing superior activity than the standard. Limited structure-activity relationship demonstrated that the positions of substituent as well as position of nitrogen in pyridine ring are very important for inhibitory activity of this class of compound. To verify these interpretations, in silico study was also performed. A good correlation was obtained between the biological evaluation of active compounds and docking study.