Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 5,6-Dihydro-benzo[c] acridin-7-ol Derivatives as Anti-Alzheimer's Disease Drugs

The multifactorial pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggests that drug treatments with two or more mechanisms of action, acting in a complementary manner, could be more efficacious to patients suffering from the disease. In an effort to develop new therapies to treat AD, a series of 5,6-dihydro-benzo[c]acridin-7-ol derivatives (5a-5q) were synthesized and evaluated for their AchE-inhibition and neuron-protection effects. Preliminary biological tests suggested that these compounds exhibited mild AchE-inhibition and commendable neuroprotection activities. Compounds 5m, 5n, 5p had noticeable neuron-protection as compared with tacrine and nimodipine.