Synthesis Development and Molecular Docking Study of New Azo Chalcone Derivatives

This work is divided into two main parts. The first part involves the synthesis of new azo chalcone compounds through a two-step process. Initially, azo compounds are synthesized by diazotizing 3-nitroaniline, followed by a coupling reaction with 4-hydroxyacetophenone, which has a terminal ketone group. Subsequently, the resulting product undergoes a Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction with various aromatic aldehyde substrates to produce new α, β-unsaturated ketones, known as azo chalcone compounds. The successful synthesis of these compounds is confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹HNMR, and ¹³C NMR spectral analyses. The second part of this study explores the theoretical biological activity of the synthesized compounds against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 through molecular docking studies. The results indicate potential antiviral properties for each compound, with compounds B5 and B8 exhibiting the most promising results. These compounds achieved higher docking scores (ΔG −6.235 kcal/mol and −5.832 kcal/mol, respectively) and each formed four hydrogen bonds with the target protein.