Synthesis and biological evaluation of theophylline acetohydrazide hydrazone derivatives as antituberculosis agents

A series of small molecules, theophylline acetohydrazide hydrazone derivatives were obtained via condensation of theophylline-7-acetohydrazide with different aromatic/heterocyclic aldehydes. The compounds were synthesized and characterized by using conventional methods. Further, the compounds and standard drugs were evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain, the activity obtained was varying depending on the functional group attached to theophylline acetohydrazide hydrazone compounds. Among these, Br-substituted compounds showed more potent against M. tuberculosis with MIC 3.6-4 mu M and better than the reference drugs used. The molecular docking studies have shown the possible binding modes of the compounds with protein (PDB ID: 4RHX); the compound 4h has shown highest glide score and binding energy. For all compounds, ADME properties were predicted.