Leishmaniases are a group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) caused by protozoan parasites from >20 Leishmania species. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-aza, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis, usually fatal in the absence of treatment in 95% of cases. The Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts (MBHAs) are being explored as drug candidates against several diseases, one of them being leishmaniasis. We present here the design, synthesis and in vitro screening against Leishmania

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... vani of sixteen new molecular hybrids from analgesic/anti-inflammatory tetrahydropyrans derivatives and Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts. First, acrylates were synthesized from analgesic/anti-inflammatory tetrahydropyrans using acrylic acid under TsOH as a catalyst (70%-75% yields). After the 16 new MBHAs were prepared in moderate to good yields (60%-95%) promoted by microwave irradiation or low temperature (0 • C) in protic and aprotic medium. The hybrids were evaluated in vitro on the promastigote stage of Leishmania donovani by determining their inhibitory concentrations 50% (IC 50 ), 50% hemolysis concentration (HC 50 ), selectivity index (HC 50 /IC 50 ,), and comparing to Amphotericin B, chosen as the anti-leishmanial reference drug. The hybrid which presents the bromine atom in its chemical structure presents high leishmanicide activity and the high selectivity index in red blood cells (SI rb > 180.19), compared with the highly-toxic reference drug (SI rb = 33.05), indicating that the bromine hybrid is a promising compound for further biological studies.