Differential characterization using readily accessible NMR experiments of novel N- and O-alkylated quinolin-4-ol, 1,5-naphthyridin-4-ol and quinazolin-4-ol derivatives with antimycobacterial activity

During the construction of bioactive molecules, regioselective alkylation of heterocyclic, N/O ambident nucleophiles is a frequently encountered synthetic transformation. In this framework, specific attention is required to unambiguously determine the structures of obtained reaction products. As part of our project on quinoloxyacetamide based antimycobacterial agents, a series of N- or O- alkylated quinolin-4-ol, 1,5-naphthyridin-4-ol and quinazolin-4-ol derivatives were prepared during the course of which we observed unexpected selectivity issues. After finding that no consistent procedure existed in the literature for assigning regioisomers of this type, we applied three readily accessible NMR experiment types (13C NMR, HSQC/HMBC and NOE) to resolve any uncertainties regarding the obtained regioisomeric structures. Furthermore, the antimycobacterial activity of all final compounds was evaluated with the best compound 23 showing potent antitubercular activity (MIC = 1.25 μM) without cytotoxic effects. [Display omitted] •Azaheterocyclic analogues of quinoloxyacetamide antimycobacterials are reported.•Potent antimycobacterial scaffolds were identified.•Unambiguous structure determination was carried out by 13C-NMR, HSQC/HMBC and NOE.•NMR methodology can be applied generally for ambident heterocyclic nucleophiles.