Design, synthesis, antibacterial evaluation of isopropylamine linked with different substituted phenol and piperazine novel derivatives

BACKGROUND Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is often considered one of the most destructive bacterial pathogens causing bacterial leaf blight (BLB), resulting in significant yield and cost losses in rice. In this study, a series of novel derivatives containing the isopropanolamine moiety linked to various substituted phenols and piperazines were designed, synthesized and screened. RESULTS Antibacterial activity results showed that most compounds had good inhibitory effects on Xoo, among which compound W2 (EC50 = 2.74 μg mL−1) exhibited the most excellent inhibitory activity, and W2 also had a certain curative effect (35.89%) on rice compared to thiodiazole copper (TC) (21.57%). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated that compound W2 could cause rupture of the Xoo cell membrane. Subsequently, proteomics and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction revealed that compound W2 affected the physiological processes of Xoo and may exert antibacterial activity by targeting the two‐component system pathway. Interestingly, W2 upregulated Xoo's methyltransferase to impact on its pathogenicity. CONCLUSION The present study offers a promising phenolic‐piperazine‐sopropanolamine compound as an innovative antibacterial strategy by specifically targeting the two‐component system pathway and inducing upregulation of methyltransferase to effectively impact Xoo's pathogenicity. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. The present study offers a promising phenolic‐piperazine‐sopropanolamine compound W2 as an innovative antibacterial strategy by specifically targeting the two‐component system pathway and inducing upregulation of methyltransferase to effectively impact pathogenicity of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo).