Synthesis of imidazole-fused nitrogen-bridgehead heterocycles catalysed by lipase and their antifungal and antimicrobial bioactivity.

An effective approach for selective C-N bond formation for synthesising imidazo[1,2-] pyridine-based heterocycles using porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) as a biocatalyst has been devised. Under moderate conditions, a series of imidazo[1,2-]pyridine-based heterocycle derivatives were synthesised with remarkable selectivity in good-to-excellent yields (89-95%). Further, the antimicrobial and antifungal activities of derivatives 3ha, 3ka, 3fa, 3hc, and 3eb were observed, and they were found to be biologically active in antimicrobial susceptibility tests for Gram-positive bacteria ( and ), Gram-negative bacteria ( and ) and fungal strains ( and ).