Aluminum chloride-functionalized silica gel synthesis as a catalyst for the preparation of biologically active oxazolidinethiones: Antioxidant and molecular docking studies

The aim of this research paper was the preparation of aluminum chloride bonded to silica gel catalyst and its application in the modification of steroidal molecules. Steroidal oxazolidinethiones were prepared using silica-supported aluminum chloride (SiO₂-AlCl₃) under Microwave irradiation, which is common in organic synthesis to achieve high yields in shorter reaction times. The advantage of this method is that the usual procedure can be carried out without tiring and without a secondary product at the end of the reaction. Physicochemical techniques were used to identify the chemical structure of the prepared oxazolidinethiones. A rationalization of the conversion pathways from steroidal epoxides to oxazolidinethiones is sketched on the basis of current and previous results. Antioxidant activities i.e. DPPH assay, total antioxidant capacity and total reductive capability were performed for steroidal compounds, including reactants, and the results indicated that steroidal oxazolidinethione with acetoxy group had a promising activity among the tested steroids. In correlation with antioxidant activity, a promising steroid derivative was subjected to a molecular docking study for binding to tyrosine kinases, the target protein and showed a negative binding energy −7.8 Kcal/mol suggesting good affinity to the active pocket and can be considered as a better antioxidant in the biological system.