A comparative study of quantitative structure–activity relationship methods based on gallic acid derivatives

By using hologram quantitative structure–activity relationship (HQSAR) and comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) methods, the relationships between the structures of 49 gallic acid derivatives and their analgesic activity have been investigated to yield statistically reliable models with considerable predictive power. The best HQSAR model was generated using atoms, bond and connectivity as fragment distinction parameters and fragment size 5–7 from a hologram length of 307 with 3 components. High conventional r 2 and cross-validation r 2 values were obtained. CoMFA analyses varying lattice size and location, grid spacing, probe charges and using, Tripos standard and Indicator force field were performed. The best model was developed with 4 components using sp3-hybridized carbon atom with +1.0 charge as probe, grid spacing (2 Å), lattice offset (1.0, 3.0, -2.5). The CoMFA model showed a conventional correlation coefficient r 2 of 0.889 and a cross-validation equals to 0.633. The robustness and predictive ability of the HQSAR and CoMFA models have been validated by means of an external test set. The results indicate that both models possess high statistical quality in the prediction of analgesic potency of novel gallic acid analogs.