The increase of incidence of tuberculosis (TB) with resistant strains and HIV co-infection has reinforced the necessity of developing new drugs for its treatment. The reaction of naphthoquinones with aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of ammonium acetate led to the synthesis of the three beta-lapachone derivatives (naphthoimidazoles) that were tested in this study. Phenazines were prepared by the reaction of the respective naphtoquinone with o-phenylenediamine in acetic acid under reflux. The antimicrobial activity of the derivatives was evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC 27294) and the rifampicin-resistant strain (ATCC 35338) containing a His-526-Tir mutation in the rpoB gene. Using the Resazurin Microtiter Assay (REMA) method, bioactive molecules were observed in the susceptible and resistant strains with MICs ranging from 2.2 muM to 17 muM. The naphthoimidazoles with p-toluyl and indolyl group attached to the imidazole ring were more active against the H37Rv strain (MIC 9.12 muM and 4.2 muM, respectively) than the rifampicin-resistant strain (MIC 8.3 muM and 17 muM, respectively). The phenazine with the allyl-pyran group was most active among the two strains and had an MIC of 2.2 mM. These results show the potential of these molecules as prototypes for future drugs used in treating TB.
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