Synthesis, characterization and biological evaluation of some thiourea derivatives bearing benzothiazole moiety as potential antimicrobial and anticancer agents

Five series of thiourea derivatives bearing benzothiazole moiety (20 compounds) were efficiently synthesized and evaluated for antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The results indicated that the compounds possessed a broad spectrum of activity against the tested microorganisms and showed higher activity against fungi than bacteria. Compounds 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b and 5b exhibited the greatest antimicrobial activity. Preliminary study of the structure–activity relationship revealed that electronic factors in benzothiazole rings had a great effect on the antimicrobial activity of these compounds. In preliminary MTT cytotoxicity studies, the thiourea derivatives (2d, 5c and 5d) were found most potent. In MCF-7 and HeLa cells, the IC50 values were observed in the range of 18–26 μM and 38–46 μM, respectively.

Graphical abstractIn this communication, we have described a novel procedure for the synthesis of thiourea derivatives using tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) as phase transfer catalyst (PTC).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide