Antidiabetic properties of dihydrooxazole Derivatives: In vitro and in silico evaluation as potential aldose reductase and α-glucosidase inhibitors

Proteins included in type 2 diabetes mellitus are potential targets for minimizing the disease progression. In this contribution, fourteen cinnamoyl compounds were synthesized and characterized, leading to five new oxazole derivatives. Their structures were optimized at the B3LYP/6–311++G(d,p) level of theory, and the global and local reactivity parameters were calculated. Based on these parameters, the reactive sites were determined. The experimental inhibitory effect towards aldose reductase (ALR2) and α-glucosidase (α-Glu) was followed, with some of the compounds showing higher activity than standard compounds, epalrestat, and acarbose. The interactions at the molecular level were investigated by molecular docking simulation, and the specific binding explained the relative reactivity order. The toxicity of compounds was assessed through ecotoxicology examination.