(+)-O,O′-Dibenzoyl-D-tartaric acid catalysis mediated synthesis of 1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives via formal cycloaddition reaction and their evolution of biological activities, DFT calculation and molecular docking studies

•Synthesize of (+)-O,O′-Dibenzoyl-D-tartaric acid catalyst for the preparation of 1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives•Reflux method used for the preparation of 1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives•Synthesised compound were screened for antibacterial, cytotoxic activity, molecular docking and DFT calculation studies.•Antibacterial activity screened against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae•The compounds were compared with standards Ciprofloxacin, and Doxorubicin. This study focuses on the one-pot multicomponent reaction of 1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives via formal [3+3] cycloaddition using (+)-O,O′-dibenzoyl-D-tartaric acid. Excellent yields were obtained under mild reaction conditions using this process. The synthesised derivatives (2a-j) were confirmed by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The synthesised compounds were screened for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. Compound 2c exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative species compared to the standard ciprofloxacin, whereas compound 2c was highly active in cytotoxic activity. Additionally, the highly active compound 2c was subjected to molecular docking and DFT calculations. Consequently, we anticipated the highest antibacterial efficacy from compound 2c, and these substances could potentially serve as a foundation for developing environmentally significant antibacterial agents in the coming years. Further studies are required to determine whether compound 2c can act as a multi-target agent and antibiotic. [Display omitted]