,2,6-Trisubstituted 1-benzimidazole derivatives as a new scaffold of antimicrobial and anticancer agents: design, synthesis, evaluation, and studies.

Compounds containing benzimidazole moiety occupy privileged chemical space for discovering new bioactive substances. In continuation of our recent work, 69 benzimidazole derivatives were designed and synthesized with good to excellent yields of 46-99% using efficient synthesis protocol sodium metabisulfite catalyzed condensation of aromatic aldehydes with -phenylenediamines to form 2-arylbenzimidazole derivatives followed by -alkylation by conventional heating or microwave irradiation for diversification. Potent antibacterial compounds against MSSA and MRSA were discovered such as benzimidazole compounds 3k (2-(4-nitrophenyl), -benzyl), 3l (2-(4-chlorophenyl), -(4-chlorobenzyl)), 4c (2-(4-chlorophenyl), 6-methyl, -benzyl), 4g (2-(4-nitrophenyl), 6-methyl, -benzyl), and 4j (2-(4-nitrophenyl), 6-methyl, -(4-chlorobenzyl)) with MIC of 4-16 μg mL.