In Vitro and In Silico Anti‐plasmodial Evaluation of Newly Synthesized β‐Carboline Derivatives

Series of novel thiourea and guanidine conjugated β ‐carbolines along with other analogues of this class were designed and synthesized for in vitro antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum to overcome the threat of resistance to anti‐malarial drug. Among them, two guanidine conjugated β ‐carbolines 7 a and 7 c showed promising activities against both sensitive and resistant strains Pf 3D7 and Pf INDO with the IC 50 values ranging from 0.6–1.0 μM. The relative activities were further supported by in silico docking and binding studies of the synthesized scaffolds against specific targets, revealing that DHFR and FP3 may act as a potential target for 7 a and 7 c respectively.