Synthesis, in vivo and in silico evaluation of novel 2,3‐dihydroquinazolin‐4(1H)‐one derivatives as potential anticonvulsant agents

In light of the pharmacophoric structural requirements for achieving anticonvulsant activity, a series of N‐(1‐methyl‐4‐oxo‐2‐un/substituted‐1,2‐dihydroquinazolin‐3[4H]‐yl)benzamide (4a‐g) and N‐(1‐methyl‐4‐oxo‐2‐un/substituted‐1,2‐dihydroquinazolin‐3[4H]‐yl)‐2‐phenylacetamide (4h‐n) derivatives were synthesized in two steps starting from the reaction of N‐methyl isatoic anhydride with the appropriate hydrazide and followed by condensation with the appropriate aldehyde. The anticonvulsant activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated according to the anticonvulsant drug development (ADD) programme protocol. Among the synthesized compounds, 4n showed promising activity in both the maximal electroshock (MES) and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) tests with median effective dose (ED50) values of 40.7 and 6 mg/kg, respectively. The six most promising derivatives, 4b, 4a, 4c, 4f, 4j, and 4i, showed very low ED50 values in the PTZ test (3.1, 4.96, 8.68, 9.89, 12, and 13.53 mg/kg, respectively). All the tested compounds showed no to low neurotoxicity in the rotarod test with a wide therapeutic index. Docking studies of compound 4n suggested that GABAA binding could be the mechanism of action of these derivatives. The in silico drug likeliness parameters indicated that none of the designed compounds violate Lipinski's rule of five and that they are able to cross the blood–brain barrier. Hit, Lead & Candidate Discovery