Synthesis, antimycobacterial and cytotoxic activity of α,β-unsaturated amides and 2,4-disubstituted oxazoline derivatives

The synthesis of six alpha,beta,-unsaturated amides and six 2,4-disubstituted oxazolines derivatives and their evaluation against two Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains (sensitive H37Rv and a resistant clinical isolate) is reported. 2,4-Disubstituted oxazolines (S)-3b,d,e were the most active in the sensitive strain with a MIC of 14.2, 13.6 and 10.8 mu M, respectively, and the compounds (S)-3d,f were the most active against resistant strain with a MIC of 6.8 and 7.4 mu M. The ex-vivo evaluation of hepatotoxicity on precision-cut rat liver slices was also tested for the alpha,beta-unsaturated amides (S)-2b and (S)-2d,f and for the oxazolines (S) 3b and (S)-3d,f at different concentrations (5, 15 and 30 mu g/mL). The results indicate that these compounds possess promising antimycobacterial activity and at the same time are not hepatotoxic. These findings open the possibility for development of new drugs against tuberculosis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.