Abstract: | Synthesis and in vitro antibacterial activity of 7-(1′-alkylhydrazino)-1,8-naphthyridines related to nalidixic acid were investigated. Namely, treatment of 7-alkylamino-1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acids 1a-d with sodium nitrite in the presence of hydrochloric acid gave the 1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-7-(N-nitrosoalkylamino)-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acids 2a-d , which upon reacting with zinc dust in acetic acid gave the 7-(1′-alkylhydrazino)-1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylicacids 3a-d. The compound 3a was alternately obtained by the reaction of 7-chloro-1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-1,8-naphth-yridine-3-carboxylic acid ( 4 ) with methylhydrazine. The reaction of 7-chloro-4-hydroxy-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid ( 5 ) with methylhydrazine gave the 4-hydroxy-7-(1′-methylhydrazino)-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid ( 6 ), which upon treatment with alkyl halides afforded the 1-alkyl-1,4-dihydro-7-(1′-methyl-hydrazino)-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridines 3a and 3e-g. The reaction of the appropriate 3 with ketones gave the corresponding 7-(1′-methylalkylidenehydrazino)-1,8-naphthyridines 7a-c and 8a-b. Among the compounds prepared, certain 3 and 7 exhibited good activity against Gram-negative bacteria. |