Synthesis and biological evaluation of amino alcohol derivatives of 2-methylbenzimidazole as antitubercular and antibacterial agents

We report synthesis of novel series of amino alcohol derivatives of 2-methyl benzimidazole. These compounds have been synthesized by epoxide ring opening of 2-methyl benzimidazole with different substituted cyclic amines. These synthesized compounds have been characterized using IR, H NMR and ES-MS spectral data together with their melting point. These compounds (4a-4o) were evaluated for their preliminary in-vitro antibacterial activity against Gram +ve (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram -ve (Escherichia coli) pathogens. Out of all tested compounds, the compounds 4c, 4j, 4n and 4o showed moderate to good activity compared to standard drugs Ciprofloxacin and Norfloxacin. Further, these compounds were screened for their antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain by MABA method. The compound 4c and 4o were found to exhibit moderate antimycobacterial activity compared to standard Isoniazid.