Synthesis, electronic properties, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of some new benzimidazoles

Two groups of benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized using as precursors 5(6)-substituted 2-mercapto-benzimidazol-thiols and their antioxidant activity was investigated using TBA–MDA test. In the group of 1,3-disubstituted-benzimidazol-2-imines the highest lipid peroxidation inhibition effect 74.04% (IC50 = 141.89 μg/mL) revealed ethyl [3-(2-ethoxy-2-oxoethyl)-2-imino-5-benzoyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzimdazol-1-yl]acetate 12 while in the group of 2-substituted-1,3-thiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazolones the highest inhibition effect showed 2-(4-fluorobenzylidene)-7-(phenylcarbonyl)[1,3]thiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazol-3(2H)-one 17 90.76% (IC50 = 53.70 μg/mL). In order to estimate the capability of the studied benzimidazoles to act as radical scavengers the structure of the most active derivative within the both subseries was optimized at B3LYP/6-311++G∗∗ level and the respective bond dissociation enthalpies were calculated. The appropriate models for the HAT and SET-mechanism of the antioxidant activity were proposed. The antibacterial activity of the compounds was evaluated against two Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538) and three Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and Salmonella abony NCTC 6017). 1,3-Diphenylpropyl-5-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-imine 14 exhibited significant activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. abony and E. coli (with MIC values of 0.125, 0.016, 0.50 and 0.50 mg/mL, respectively). The group of thiazolobenzimidazolones did not reveal antibacterial activity against the tested strains.