A new approach to the synthesis of 2‐aryl‐substituted benzimidazoles,quinazolines, and other related compounds and their antibacterial activity

A new synthesis method of benzimidazoles, dihydroquinazolines, and other related compounds containing a 2,4‐dihydroxyphenyl moiety was elaborated. Their structures were identified from elemental, infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectra analyses. The minimal inhibitory concentration values of the compounds toward eight reference bacterial strains were determined by the two‐fold serial microdilution broth method. The compounds exhibited substantial inhibitory effects against the Gram‐positive strains tested contrary to Gram‐negative ones. The compounds of imidazopyridine, N‐methylbenzimidazole, and dihydroquinazoline structures exhibited the largest activity. The magnification of covering a two‐nitrogen atom heterocyclic ring fused to a benzene one decreases the biological effect. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 23:265–275, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/hc.21012