Solvent-free synthesis of new α-olefinated nitriles with enzyme inhibition evaluation and potent antioxidant activities: In Vitro and In Silico evaluations

α-olefinated nitriles are one of the widely used building blocks for a range of commercial organic products like pigments, dyes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemical, polyamides, and light emitting diodes. In this work, we have focused on the simple, solvent-free base-mediated reaction between aldehyde and benzyl cyanide to synthesize 17 α-olefinated nitriles, with six new compounds analogues. By eliminating waste and streamlining the environmentally friendly synthesis process, the solvent-free approach increases overall reaction efficiency. 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry confirmed the structure and purity of the synthesized compounds. In vivo inhibitory activities of the synthsized compounds against five key enzymes including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and tyrosinase were, however, a varying inhibitory potential was observed. In phosphomolybdenum antioxidant assay, compound IPMB exhibit promising IC50 value of 1.48 mM, surpassing Trolox; the reference standard. IPB with an IC50 of 0.87 mM proved to be most active in the CUPRAC assay. These results coordinated well with their simulation studies where overall binding affinities ranged from -5.90 to -11.40, with the most potential shown by IPB, IPMB and IPDB. Moreover, α-olefinated nitriles mentioned in this work have never been tested for their biological potential before. This work paves the way for the discovery of potential antioxidant compounds to be utilised in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry by highlighting the significance of a green synthesis technique and a wide range of biological evaluation.