Synthesis of Selenium-Based Small Molecules Inspired by CNS-Targeting Psychotropic Drugs and Mediators

Due to its endogenously high oxygen consumption, the central nervous system (CNS) is vulnerable to oxidative stress conditions. Notably, the activity of several CNS-targeting compounds, such as antidepressant and hypnotic drugs, or endogenous mediators, such as melatonin, is indeed linked to their ability of mitigating oxidative stress. In this work, we report the synthesis of two organoselenium compounds of which the structure was inspired by CNS-targeting psychotropic drugs (zolpidem and fluoxetine) and an endogenous mediator (melatonin). The molecules were designed with the aim of combining the ROS-scavenging properties, which were already assessed for the parent compounds, with a secondary antioxidant action, a glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimic role empowered by the presence of selenium. The compounds were obtained through a facile three-step synthesis and were predicted by computational tools to passively permeate through the blood–brain barrier and to efficiently bind to the GABA A receptor, the macromolecular target of zolpidem. Of note, the designed synthetic pathway enables the production of several other derivatives through minor modifications of the scheme, paving the way for structure–activity relationship studies.