Synthesis and Evaluation of Chroman-4-One Linked to N-Benzyl Pyridinium Derivatives as New Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors.

A novel series of chroman-4-one derivatives containing the N-benzyl pyridinium moiety were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities. Among the various synthesized compounds, (E)-1-(2,3-dibromobenzyl)-4-((7-ethoxy-4-oxochroman-3-ylidene)methyl)pyridinium bromide (8l) depicted the most potent anti-AChE activity (IC50 = 0.048 μM). In addition, the molecular modeling study allowed us to detect possible binding modes that are in full compliance with the observed results through in vitro experiments.