Design, synthesis, and neuroprotective and anti-platelet aggregation research of 3-n-butylphthalide derivatives

Butylphthalide and ferulic acid exhibit excellent therapeutic effects in ischemic stroke. In this research, twelve 3-n-butylphthalide derivatives were designed by molecular hybridization strategy. The target compounds were obtained by nucleophilic substitution, reduction reaction, esterification reaction and elimination reaction, and the structure was confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and ESI-MS. All compounds were evaluated for neuroprotective activity against OGD/R-induced neurotoxicity in rat cortical neurons by MTT assay. The compounds with the best neuroprotective activity were biologically evaluated for their ability to inhibit platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid (AA) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) via the Bron method.The results indicate that 7b exhibited potent neurocyte protective activity as well as prominent anti-platelet aggregation activity. Compound 7b has potential to be developed as a drug for ischemic stroke.