SYNTHESIS AND ANTICONVULSANT STUDIES OF 3 ISOMERS OF 4-[(DIMETHYLPHENYL)AMINO]-4-OXOBUTENOIC ACID

📄 Project Abstract

Epilepsy is a disorder of public concern worldwide and has been widely treated via pharmacotherapy, which are faced with challenges such as cost of therapy, side effects, toxicity and lack of selectivity. As such, researchers agree on the need to identify more selective, readily available and lesser toxic antiepileptic drugs. Three isomeric forms was synthesized using equimolar amount of furan-2,5-dione and 2,4-; 2,5- and 2,6- dimethyl isomers of aniline via a nucleophile-electrophile addition reaction at a temperature of 700C and refluxed. The compounds A, B and C were synthesized with good yields of 87, 85 and 80 % respectively and melting points of 105, 75 and 900C respectively. The structures were elucidated using spectroscopic techniques, particularly 1D and 2D NMR. Acute toxicity studies were carried out using Lorke's method while neurotoxicity was assessed using the beam walk assay. The compounds were screened for anticonvulsant activity using Maximum Electro-Shock Test (MEST) a...