Synthesis and in vitro Antimycobacterial Activity of Moxifloxacin Methylene and Ethylene Isatin Derivatives

A series of novel moxifloxacin methylene and ethylene isatin derivatives with remarkable improvement in lipophilicity, compared to the parent moxifloxacin, was designed, synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, MS and HRMS. These derivatives were initially evaluated for their in vitro antimycobacterial activity against M. smegmatis CMCC 93202. Compounds 3a―3f, 5a, 5f and 5j were chosen for the further evaluation of their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB) H37Rv ATCC 27294 and MDR-MTB 09710. All the target com pounds[minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC): 0.39―>16 μg/mL] were far more active than rifampin(MIC: 2.0―>256 μg/mL), but less active than moxifloxacin(MIC: 0.1―1.0 μg/mL) against the three tested strains. The most active compounds 3a and 3c were found to be 2―64 fold more potent than isoniazid and rifampin against M. smegmatis CMCC 93202, 2 fold more potent than rifampin against MTB H37Rv ATCC 27294, and 16―>64 fold more potent than ethambutol, isoniazid and rifampin against MDR-MTB 09710.