Green synthesis, anti-inflammatory evaluation and molecular docking of novel pyridines via one pot multi-component reaction using ultrasonic irradiation

In this paper, we present a green application for the synthesis of novel pyridine derivatives 4a–f via one-pot, multicomponent reaction (MCRs) of some aromatic aldehydes 1a–f with malononitrile (2) and N-(4-acetylphenyl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide (3) in the presence of ammonium acetate using ultrasonic irradiation (U.S) in an aqueous solvent H₂O:EtOH (2:1). The structures of all synthesized pyridines 4a–f were confirmed via elemental analysis and different spectroscopic techniques. This application has many advantages such as avoiding hazardous solvents, excellent yields, inexpensive, simple application, in addition to obtain pure compounds. The anti-inflammatory activity of the newly compounds was examined with the reference drug Ibuprofen. The obtained results showed that most derivatives are promising anti-inflammatory activates. Moreover, compound 4b exhibits the most anti-inflammatory activity with a percentage of inhibition with 51.67% compared with Ibuprofen 53.96%. Furthermore, the newly compounds were studied in their molecular docking simulations against the enzyme Human Cyclooxygenase-2, with Tolfenamic Acid as a reference ligand (PDB ID: 5IKT). Compound 4b demonstrated a robust binding affinity with the target protein 5ikt, evidenced by its binding affinity score of − 11.16 kcal/mol, which is the highest among the studied compounds.