Synthesis, characterization, biological and in-silico evaluation of cuminaldehyde derivatives

Cuminum cyminum L. is a versatile spice belonging to the family Apiaceae. It exhibits numerous culinary, traditional, and pharmacological attributes. All therapeutic effectiveness of C. cyminum is rendered by its active phytoconstituents. Cuminaldehyde is considered as the major phytocompounds of C. cyminum responsible for the plant’s diverse health attributes. Therefore, in the present study, it was hypothesized that cuminaldehyde derivatives exhibited better pharmacological potential than cuminaldehyde. Therefore, cuminaldehyde derivatives were synthesized, characterized and assessed for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Cumin essential oil (E.O.B) was also extracted from cumin seeds via the Clevenger apparatus, characterized by GC–MS and pharmacologically compared with newly synthesized cuminaldehyde derivatives (NS-1B to NS-10B). Results revealed that higher antibacterial activity was observed in compounds, E.O.B (ZI_ec = 15.0 ± 0.09 mm), NS-7B (ZI_ec = 14.0 ± 0.08 mm, MIC_ec = 6.25 mg/mL) whereas the highest antifungal activities were noticed in E.O.B (ZI_ao = 12.3 ± 0.12 mm), NS-7B (ZI_fo = 12.4 mm, MIC_{ao, fo} = 12.5 mg/mL). Compounds NS-1B (% RSA_DPPH = 84.39, % RSA_ABTS = 85.16) and NS-7B (% RSA_DPPH = 82.65, % RSA_ABTS = 84.08) had higher antioxidant potential. The highest cytotoxicity was exhibited by compound NS-1B (IC50 = 20.6 µg/mL) and NS-7B (IC50 = 26.1 µg/mL). Compound NS-7B had the highest docking score (-8.372). Results indicated compound NS-7B most suitable pharmacological compound. Hence, further in-depth studies may be conducted on NS-7B for drug development.