Cinnamic Acid Conjugates in the Rescuing and Repurposing of Classical Antimalarial Drugs

Molecules. 2019 Dec 24;25(1):66. doi: 10.3390/molecules25010066.

Abstract

Cinnamic acids are compounds of natural origin that can be found in many different parts of a wide panoply of plants, where they play the most diverse biological roles, often in a conjugated form. For a long time, this has been driving Medicinal Chemists towards the investigation of the therapeutic potential of natural, semi-synthetic, or fully synthetic cinnamic acid conjugates. These efforts have been steadily disclosing promising drug leads, but a wide chemical space remains that deserves to be further explored. Amongst different reported approaches, the combination or conjugation of cinnamic acids with known drugs has been addressed in an attempt to produce either synergistic or multi-target action. In this connection, the present review will focus on efforts of the past decade regarding conjugation with cinnamic acids as a tool for the rescuing or the repurposing of classical antimalarial drugs, and also on future perspectives in this particular field of research.

Keywords: amide; aminoquinoline; antimalarial; antioxidant; antiparasitic; antiproliferative; artemisinin; chloroquine; cinnamic; ionic liquid; primaquine; repurposing; rescuing.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antimalarials / chemistry
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology*
  • Cinnamates / chemistry
  • Cinnamates / pharmacology*
  • Drug Repositioning*
  • Humans
  • Ionic Liquids / chemistry

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Cinnamates
  • Ionic Liquids
  • cinnamic acid