Design, synthesis and evaluation of diarylpiperazine derivatives as potent anti-tubercular agents

Molecular hybridization is an emerging approach to design novel ligands by combination of two or more pharmacophoric subunits of known bioactive compounds. In the present study, we have designed a novel series of diarylpiperazine analogues, synthesized, characterized using FTIR, 1H NMR, Mass, Elemental analysis and evaluated their in-vitro anti-tubercular activity. Among the reported sixteen diarylpiperazines, eleven analogues exhibited significant anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain with MIC values below 6.25 μg/mL and good selectivity index. Structure activity relationship studies concluded that, ortho-para directing group (except para chloro) substitution on ortho and para position of piperazine attached phenyl ring favored anti-tubercular activity. Among the reported sixteen analogues, eleven compounds exhibited potent anti-tubercular activity with MIC values