Series of styryl hydrazine thiazole hybrids inspired from dehydrozingerone (DZG) scaffold were designed and synthesized by molecular hybridization approach. In vitro antimycobacterial activity of synthesized compounds was evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H 37 Rv strain. Among the series, compound 6o exhibited significant activity (MIC = 1.5 μM; IC 50 = 0.48 μM) along with bactericidal (MBC = 12 μM) and intracellular antimycobacterial activities (IC 50 = <0.098 μM). Furthermore, 6o displayed prominent antimycobacterial activity under hypoxic (MIC = 46 μM) and normal oxygen (MIC = 0.28 μM) conditions along with antimycobacterial efficiency against isoniazid (MIC = 3.2 μM for INH-R1; 1.5 μM for INH-R2) and rifampicin (MIC = 2.2 μM for RIF-R1; 6.3 μM for RIF-R2) resistant strains of Mtb. Presence of electron donating groups on the phenyl ring of thiazole moiety had positive correlation for biological activity, suggesting the importance of molecular hybridization approach for the development of newer DZG clubbed hydrazine thiazole hybrids as potential antimycobacterial agents. KEYWORDS: Antimycobacterial activity, bactericidal, dehydrozingerone, NIAID, thiazole T uberculosis (TB) is a chronic necrotizing bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which has been a bane of humanity for thousands of years and remains as one of the rampant health problems in the world. TB is an ancient enemy, and current threat that has been ranked among the foremost killers of the 21st century.
1According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, around 9 million people were found infected and around 1.5 million casualties occurred because of TB. Besides, the life threatening strains of MDR-TB (Multi Drug Resistance Tuberculosis) are appearing, some of which can lead to high mortality rate (e.g., 72−89%) with death occurring in short period (4−16 weeks).2 In 2013 around 480,000 affirmative cases of MDR-TB were witnessed.3 India, China, the Russian Federation, and South Africa have almost 60% of the world's cases of MDR-TB. In addition, the risk becomes even greater if the person is coinfected with the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). 4 The global resurgence of TB and development of drug resistance necessitates for an imperative attention of medicinal chemists to develop innovative antimycobacterial agents as no new classes of anti-TB agents have been developed since the introduction of rifampin in to clinical practice in 1960s.It is well-known fact that trans-cinnamic acid analogues have recently drawn back the intentness of medicinal chemists due to their admirable pharmacological properties like antioxidant,