New Benzopyrrole Derivatives: Synthesis and Appraisal of Their Potential as Antimicrobial Agents

A series of twenty compounds (23–42) were synthesized and characterized by spectral studies in order to explore newer antimicrobial compounds. The majority of the synthesized compounds reported significant antimicrobial properties against various pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains with the help of tube dilution method. Significant activities (MIC ranging from 3.9 to 15.62 μg/ml) have been shown against Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria with. In contrast, moderate to outstanding antibacterial activity was reported versus Gram‐negative bacteria such as E. coli and P. aeruginosa along with Gram‐positive bacteria such as S. aureus and B. subtilis. While antifungal activity was moderate to excellent against two fungus strains (Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata). Compounds 25 and 34 had the utmost activity versus Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria too. The antifungal activity of compound 35 was comparable to that of standard. In‐silico Molecular docking evaluations were performed for antibacterial and antifungal activities against the target DNA gyrase A (PDB: 1AB4) and 14 alpha‐sterol demethylase enzyme (PDB: 1EA1), respectively. The dock score for typicals compounds for antibacterial and antifungal activity were −4.733 and −9.4, respectively. The three‐dimensional QSAR examination was carried out by multiple linear regression (SA‐MLR) with good predictive power (r2=0.9105, q2=0.8011). Establishment of several interactions between the ligand 25 and 34 and the active site of residue of both receptors, enable the ligand 25 and 34 to be fit well in the pocket of the active site, as seen in Molecular dynamics simulations analysis. Thus, data suggest that these ligands could be further explored as potential precursors to develop antimicrobial drugs.