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Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Small Molecules Inhibitors, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1454

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University “G. D’Annunzio”, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
Interests: bioactive compounds; PPAR agonists; anticancer activity; neuroprotection; antioxidants; aromatase inhibitors; NOS; small molecules; medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

New pharmacological therapies aim to use small-molecule inhibitors to improve their inherent properties. These small compounds can cross biological barriers and modulate different organic targets. In particular, the inhibition effects of different small molecules can have many pharmacological effects. For these reasons, in recent years, small-molecule inhibitors have been developed to regulate many biological districts, and they represent an interesting instrument for the development of potential new therapeutic agents.

In this context, this Special Issue will focus our attention on the most recent studies related to the design and synthesis of small-molecule inhibitors, as well as on the discovery of naturally occurring small molecules that inhibit biological targets and are useful as potential therapeutics.

This Special Issue will accept original research papers and high-quality reviews that cover multiple aspects of small-molecule inhibitors, focusing on the following topics:

  • The design, synthesis, and identification of new small-molecule inhibitors;
  • The biological evaluation of small molecules endowed with biological activity as inhibitors;
  • The isolation and identification of small-molecule inhibitors from natural sources;
  • The evaluation of molecular mechanisms and biological targets of new small-molecule inhibitors.

This Special Issue will make an important contribution to improving our knowledge of the importance of small-molecule inhibitors in drug discovery and pharmacology.

Dr. Letizia Giampietro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • small molecules
  • inhibitors
  • natural products
  • drug design
  • synthetic strategies
  • structure–activity relationship
  • docking studies
  • drug delivery
  • in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo evaluation
  • biological activity
  • molecular mechanisms

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

37 pages, 28647 KiB  
Review
Azobenzene as Multi-Targeted Scaffold in Medicinal Chemistry
by Barbara De Filippis, Alice Della Valle, Alessandra Ammazzalorso, Cristina Maccallini, Giuseppe Tesse, Rosa Amoroso, Adriano Mollica and Letizia Giampietro
Molecules 2024, 29(24), 5872; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29245872 - 12 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1127
Abstract
The discovery of a multi-target scaffold in medicinal chemistry is an important goal for the development of new drugs with different biological effects. Azobenzene is one of the frameworks in medicinal chemistry used for its simple synthetic methods and for the possibility to [...] Read more.
The discovery of a multi-target scaffold in medicinal chemistry is an important goal for the development of new drugs with different biological effects. Azobenzene is one of the frameworks in medicinal chemistry used for its simple synthetic methods and for the possibility to obtain a great variety of derivatives by simple chemical modifications or substitutions. Phenyldiazenyl-containing compounds show a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, anti-cancer, and anti-enzymatic. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of azobenzene as a scaffold in medicinal chemistry, with particular attention to the chemical modifications and structure–activity relationships (SARs). This review emphasizes the main therapeutic applications of phenyldiazenyl derivatives, with a particular focus on structural modification and its influence on activity, with the aim of inspiring medicinal chemists to obtain new, increasingly powerful azobenzenes useful in therapy. Full article
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