Antifungal Activity of Salicylanilides and Their Esters with 4-(Trifluoromethyl)benzoic Acid

Abstract

Searching for novel antimicrobial agents still represents a current topic in medicinal chemistry. In this study, the synthesis and analytical data of eighteen salicylanilide esters with 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic acid are presented. They were assayed <em>in vitro</em> as potential antimycotic agents against eight fungal strains, along with their parent salicylanilides. The antifungal activity of the presented derivatives was not uniform and moulds showed a higher susceptibility with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ³ 0.49 µmol/L than yeasts (MIC ³ 1.95 µmol/L). However, it was not possible to evaluate a range of 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoates due to their low solubility. In general, the most active salicylanilide was <em>N</em>-(4-bromophenyl)-4-chloro-2-hydroxybenzamide and among esters, the corresponding 2-(4-bromophenylcarbamoyl)-5-chlorophenyl 4-(trifluoromethyl) benzoate exhibited the lowest MIC of 0.49 µmol/L. However, the esterification of salicylanilides by 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic acid did not result unequivocally in a higher antifungal potency.

Keywords

• antifungal activity
• &lt;em&gt;in vitro&lt;/em&gt; activity
• salicylanilide
• salicylanilide ester
• 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic acid ester