Experimental Plant Material and Isolation ProcedureAerial parts of S. spicigera (C. Koch) Boiss. and S. macrantha C. A. Mey. were collected from Astara and Uroomieh, respectively, in the north-west of Iran, during the flowering stage in September 2000. Voucher specimens (78410 TARI for S. specigera and 78409 TARI for S. macrantha) were deposited at the Herbarium of the Institute of Forests and Rangelands Researches. Plant specimens were identified by Dr. Vali-allah Mozaffarian from that institute.Aerial parts of the plants were dried at room temperature, cut into small pieces and hydrodistilled using a Clevenger-type apparatus for 4 h. The oils were dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and stored at 4-6°C. Identification and Quantification of the Oil ComponentsFID-GC was carried out using a Varian GC 3600 chromatograph with DB-5 (methyl phenyl siloxane, 30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness) or DB-1 (60 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness); carrier gas, He; split ratio, 1:15, and flame ionization detector. Temperature programme: 60°C (2 min) rising to 240°C at 5°C/min; injector temperature, 250°C; detector temperature, 260°C.

The essential oils of the aerial parts of Satureja spicigera (C. Koch) Boiss. and S. macrantha C. A. Mey., from Iran, have been analysed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-three compounds in the oil of S. spicigera, representing 97.4% of the total oil, and 48 compounds in the oil of S. macrantha, representing 92.1%, were identified. The oil of S. spicigera was rich in monoterpenes (89.9%) with thymol (37.3%) as the major compound, but the oil of S. Aerial parts of the plants were dried at room temperature, cut into small pieces and hydrodistilled using a Clevenger-type apparatus for 4 h. The oils were dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and stored at 4-6°C. Identification and Quantification of the Oil ComponentsFID-GC was carried out using a Varian GC 3600 chromatograph with DB-5 (methyl phenyl siloxane, 30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness) or DB-1 (60 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness); carrier gas, He; split ratio, 1:15, and flame ionization detector. Temperature programme, 60°C for 2 min, rising at 5°C/min to 240°C; injector temperature, 250°C; detector temperature, 260°C.GC-MS was performed on a cross-linked 5% methyl phenyl siloxane (HP-5, 30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness) or DB-1 (see GC): carrier gas, He; split ratio, 1:15; quadruple mass spectrometer (Hewlett-Packard 5973) operating at 70 eV ionization energy. The retention indices for all the components

In order to find new and potent drug candidates for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections‚ in this study attention was focused on the synthesis and anti-H. pylori activity of a series of 5-(5-nitrofuran-2-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazoles containing piperazinyl functionality at the C-2 position of the 1,3,4--thiadiazole ring. The synthesis of 1-[5-(5-nitrofuran-2-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2--yl]piperazine derivatives 3a-h and pyrrolidine derivative 3i was achieved with a versatile and efficient synthetic route via 2-chloro-5-(5-nitrofuran-2-yl)-1,3,4--thiadiazole. The inhibitory activity of the new derivatives 3a-i against twenty clinical H. pylori strains was evaluated by the disc diffusion method and compared with the commercially available standard drug metronidazole. Resulting biological data indicated that most compounds exhibited strong inhibitory activity even at doses lower than 2 μg/disc (average zone of inhibition >20 mm) while metronidazole had little or no growth inhibition at this dose. Compound 3c containing the N-benzoylpiperazin-1-yl moiety showed the most potent inhibitory activity.