Iodine (III)-mediated synthesis of some 2-aryl/hetarylbenzoxazoles as antibacterial/antifungal agents

Ten 2-aryl/hetarylbenzoxazoles (5a, 5b, and 6a-h) were synthesized via oxidative cyclization of Schiff bases (3a, 3b, and 4a-h) with 1.1 equivalent of iodobenzene diacetate (IBD) in methanol. All of these 2-aryl/hetarylbenzoxazoles (5a, 5b, and 6a-h) were tested in vitro for their antibacterial and antifungal activities against Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas putida. These compounds also were screened for their antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. Biological activity of these compounds was compared with those of commercially available antibiotics, chloramphenicol and antifungal agent cycloheximide. Most of these compounds, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 6d, 6e, 6g, 6h, were equipotent or more potent than these commercial drugs at concentration 100 mu g/ml.