Salophen Copper(II) Complex-Assisted Click Reactions for Fast Synthesis of 1,2,3-Triazoles Based on Naphthalene-1,4-dione Scaffold, Antibacterial Evaluation, and Molecular Docking Studies

The salophen copper(II) complex was successfully used for the efficient synthesis of new 1,2,3-triazoles based on the naphthalene-1,4-dione scaffold. The reaction of 2-chloro-3-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)naphthalene-1,4-dione or 2,3-bis(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)naphthalene-1,4-dione with aromatic azides in the presence of a low copper catalyst (loading 1 mol-%) afforded 2-chloro-3-[(1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy]naphthalene-1,4-dione or 2,3-bis[(1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy]naphthalene-1,4-dione, respectively. The advantages of these reactions are short reaction times, high-to-excellent reaction yields, operational simplicity, and mild experimental conditions. The new 1,2,3-triazoles obtained were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activities and were subjected to molecular docking studies.