Design and synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives as antimycobacterial agents.

A series of 2,5-disubstituted benzimidazole derivatives was synthesized with the aim to identify compounds with potent anti-TB activity. All the compounds were screened in vitro against cultured Mycobacterium tuberculosis H Rv strain and found to be exhibiting MIC values in the range of 0.195-100 µM. Out of 43 synthesized compounds, two compounds 11h and 13e showed better anti-TB activity than the reference drug isoniazid.