Synthesis and Biological Activity of N-Acylhydrazones

The synthesis of hybrid molecules that contain fragments of natural compounds and pharmacophore groups makes it possible to develop a wide range of new biologically active compounds. The acylhydrazone fragments are present in many biologically active molecules and give them various types of pharmacological activity, i.e., antibacterial, antituberculosis, antifungal, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, antiviral, and antiprotozoal properties. In this review, we consider examples of the synthesis of N-acylhydrazones with a structure based on natural and synthetic compounds and provide data on their pharmacological properties, i.e., antituberculosis activity (against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv), antimicrobial and bactericidal activity, antiviral (against influenza viruses, herpes simplex type 1, Epstein–Barr virus, and human immunodeficiency virus), anti-inflammatory (including analgesic) activity, antitumor activity (against cancer cells of the lungs, breast, stomach, liver, colon, etc.), and pesticide activity (fungicides, larvicides, insecticides, and growth regulators).