Abstract: AimTo investigate the inhibitory effect of 2-aminothiazole derivatives on Neuro-cell apoptosis and QSAR. MethodsThe 2-aminothiazole derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the lead compound of PFT-α, the protective action of the compounds I and II against and their inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H₂O₂ were determined by MTT method and FCM method. The QSAR equation was obtained from Cerius²-QSAR⁺module. ResultsEleven novel 2-aminothiazole Schiff base compounds (II) have been designed and synthesized. The structure of the compound II were characterized by IR, MS,¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR. Their protective action against and the inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H₂O₂ were found in this experiment. The optimal QSAR equation obtained from the Cerius²-QSAR⁺module by using log(1/EC₅₀) with corresponding descriptors is Activity＝6.947 68-0.088 72דLUMO”-0.043 018דAlogp98”-0.128 752דRad0fGration”+0.018 246דDipole-mag”. The correlation statistics parameters of the above equation are as follows: r²=0.970, F-test=49.149, r=0.985 and Lse=0.001. ConclusionThe 2-aminothiazole derivatives exhibited certain activity in inhibiting PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H₂O₂. Some compounds such as I-6, I-9 and II-6 have the dual activities, the protective action against and inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H₂O₂. The QSAR equation indicated that it is favorable for enhance the activity of 2-aminothiazole derivatives by the reduction of “radius of gyration” and the energy of “LUMO” of the compounds.