A promising α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitors based on benzimidazole-oxadiazole hybrid analogues: Evidence based in vitro and in silico studies

The present study reports the design and synthesis of new benzimidazole-oxadiazole compounds as potent inhibitors of α-glucosidase and α-amylase. The synthesized molecules were characterized through different techniques such as ¹HNMR, ¹³CNMR, HREI-MS and evaluated for their in vitro inhibitory activities against these enzymes. Among the compounds screened, compound 8 demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity against both α-glucosidase (IC₅₀ = 11.60 µM) and α-amylase (IC₅₀ = 6.20 µM). Molecular docking analyses were conducted to investigate the binding modes and interactions of the active compounds within the enzyme active sites. The results demonstrate that several benzimidazole-oxadiazole hybrids exhibited potent inhibitory effects on both α-glucosidase and α-amylase, suggesting their promise as antidiabetic agents.