Synthesis, Structure and In Vitro Anti-Trypanosomal Activity of Non-Toxic Arylpyrrole-Based Chalcone Derivatives

With an intention of identifying chalcone derivatives exhibiting anti-protozoal activity, a cohort of relatively unexplored arylpyrrole-based chalcone derivatives were synthesized in moderate to good yields. The resultant compounds were evaluated in vitro for their potential activity against a cultured Trypanosoma brucei brucei 427 strain. Several compounds displayed mostly modest in vitro anti-trypanosomal activity with compounds 10e and 10h emerging as active candidates with IC50 values of 4.09 and 5.11 mu M, respectively. More importantly, a concomitant assessment of their activity against a human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell line revealed that these compounds are non-toxic.