Synthesis and Antidiabetic Evaluation of Triazole-Linked Thiazolidine-2,4-dione Hybrids as α-Glucosidase and α-Amylase Inhibitors

A series of 1,2,3-triazole-linked-thiazolidine-2,4-dione hybrids (SDP1–SDP15) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antidiabetic potential. All structures were characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy (1H and 13C). All derivatives exhibited significant in vitro inhibition of α-glucosidase (IC50: 24.17–46.41 µg/mL) and α-amylase (23.25–50.66 µg/mL), comparable to the standard drug acarbose (IC50: 25.18 and 32.53 µg/mL) and superior to the reference drug pioglitazone (IC50: 84.24 and 79.74 µg/mL) for α-glucosidase and α-amylase, respectively. Molecule SDP8 emerged as the most potent with an IC50 of 24.17 and 23.25 µg/mL for α-glucosidase and α-amylase, respectively. Further, SDP8 exhibited a higher docking score of −10.7 kcal/mol and −10.4 kcal/mol against α-glucosidase and α-amylase than pioglitazone (−8.1 kcal/mol and −7.7 kcal/mol, respectively), suggesting that interaction with these two enzymes may be the cause for its antidiabetic activity. Furthermore, DFT analysis revealed favorable electronic properties with a low HOMO-LUMO energy gap, whereas ADMET predictions revealed moderate drug-like characteristics with some limitations, such as poor solubility, relatively high lipophilicity, and partial noncompliance with drug-likeness regulations. Overall, these results highlight triazole-linked thiazolidinedione hybrids as promising candidates for further development in T2DM, with SDP8 serving as a preliminary lead requiring additional optimization and validation.