Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. This work reports the synthesis, biological and theoretical evaluations of a new antileishmanial series of 5-(4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-(arylamino)thieno[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives -3 (H), 3a (m-CH 3 ), 3b (m-OCH 3 ), 3c (m-NO 2 ), 3d (m-F), 3e (m-Br), 3f (p-CH 3 ), 3g (p-OCH 3 ), 3h (p-NO 2 ), 3i (p-F), 3j (p-Br).Interestingly 3f and 3g showed a better profile against Leishmania amazonensis (EC 50 =29.49 and 32.23 μM, respectively) than glucantime, the current drug on the market (EC 50 =163.7 μM). The theoretical analysis pointed a correlation among the antileishmanial profile and the conformational and electrostatic features of these new molecules. ADMET and "Lipinski´s rule of 5" revealed higher theoretical biodisponibility, druglikeness and drugscore values for these derivatives compared to known antileishmanial drugs. Our results pointed these thieno[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives as lead compounds for designing new agents for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.