Synthesis, Antimicrobial Evaluation, and Docking Study of Some New Isoxazoline Derivatives Derived from Chalcones

New 2-Isoxazoline derivatives containing furan moieties were synthesized from chalcones as starting materials, followed by antimicrobial activity. Chalcones were synthesized by reacting p-methoxy acetophenone or 3,4-(methylenedioxy)acetophenone with various aldehydes that were synthesized using Claisen-Schmidt condensation. Subsequently, the obtained products underwent cyclization with hydroxylamine hydrochloride to yield the corresponding 2-isoxazoline derivatives. The synthesized isoxazolines have been characterized via 1H-NMR, FTIR, and GC-Mass spectroscopy. The new derivatives were screened for their activity against different bacterial species as well as Candida albicans and exhibited moderate to excellent activity as new antimicrobial agents. A docking study was conducted on most potent derivatives against glucoseamine-6-phosphate synthase (GlcN-6-P), the target enzyme for antimicrobial agents. The study aimed to understand how the discovered derivatives interact with the binding pocket residues of the enzyme.