SYNTHESIS AND ANTIMALARIAL EVALUATION OF 1-(2,4- DIMETHOXYPHENYL)-3-(4-TRIFLUORO METHYL-PHENYL) PROPAN-2-ENE-1- ONE

Malaria is one of the most serious health problems worldwide and Its treatment has been compromised by drug resistance. Chalcones represent an important chemical scaffold with promising antimalarial activity. A chalcone derivative; 1(2,4dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-trifluoro methyl-phenyl) propan-2-ene-1-one (Compound P21) was synthesized by modified ClaisenSchmidt condensation reaction. The structure of compound P21 was established using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), proton and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and also mass spectrometry (MS). The compound was screened for in-vivo antimalarial activity in mice infected with P berghii parasite, using curative model. Compound P21 displayed appreciable activity (66% parasitaemia suppression) comparable to that of chloroquine (5 mg kg-1) at a dose of 175mg kg-1 in the curative test (p<0.05). The present finding suggests that compound P21 is a promising antimalarial compound and is a candidate for further optimization and evaluation.