Synthesis, molecular docking and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of 5-aryl-1H-tetrazoles

5-Aryl-1H-tetrazoles (1-24) were synthesized and screened for their xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity using allopurinol as standard inhibitor (IC50 = 2.0 ± 0.01 µM). Six compounds 3, 4, 5, 9, 21, and 24 exhibited significant to weak activities with IC50 values in the range of 7.4-174.2 µM. Active compounds were further subjected to kinetic and molecular docking studies to deduce their modes of inhibition, and to study their interactions with the protein (XO) at atomic level, respectively. Interestingly, all these compounds showed a competitive mode of inhibition. Docking studies identified several important interactions between the ligand and the receptor protein (XO). Some of these interactions were similar to that exhibited by clinical inhibitors of XO (allopurinol, and febuxostat). This study identifies 5-aryl-1H-tetrazoles as a new class of xanthine oxidase inhibitors, which deserves to be further, investigated for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout.