The antioxidant power of eugenol and vitamin C was examined by analyzing the ability of these ligands to bind to the NADPH oxidase protein target and evaluating their bond interactions with critical residues. The results confirm that docked ligands are more stable in the specified active region of 2CDU during a MD simulation of 100 ns and 2CDU protein-ligand interactions with docked ligands showed significant hydrogen bond, hydrophobic, and water bridge formation. Eugenol exhibits hydrogen bond interactions with critical residues in the selective pocket in comparison to vitamin C. Also, eugenol had a similar binding orientation and very considerable stability in the selective pocket of 2CDU with a high binding energy with lipophilic energy. The electrostatic potential maps indicate that for eugenol, the –OH and –OCH3 sites, while that the –OH and –CO functional groups in vitamin C are responsible of the antioxidant activities of these compounds. HAT and SET mechanisms suggest that eugenol may become a better antioxidant than vitamin C.

ABSTRACT In the present, study we analyzed the electronic properties of Steviol, the Stevia rebaudiana metabolite, and its interaction with antiapoptotic protein BCL-2. The ionization potential and electrophilicity index values were evaluated in the framework of the DFT, and these values suggest that Steviol may form ligand-receptor interactions. Also, the bond dissociation energy and the electrostatic potential distribution of Steviol reveal its antioxidant behavior. Docking studies were performed to evaluate the feasibility of this molecule to interact with antiapoptotic protein BCL-2. However, no hydrogen bonds were found in the pocket site, instead six interactions, including alkyl and π-alkyl type were formed, suggesting that the possible most feasible mechanism for anticancer activity would be through free radicals scavenging.