Abstract

In search of new antibacterial agents, symmetric 2,6-di(benzofuran-2-yl)-4-phenyl-pyridine derivatives 3a-h were synthesized by cyclisation of 2a-h. The method involves preparing substituted 2-acetylbenzofuran 1a-b from salicylaldehyde and bromoacetone in basic media, which on further reaction with substituted aromatic aldehydes in minimum acetonitrile and grinding at room temperature yields 2a-h by crossed aldol condensation. The structures of all the newly synthesized compounds are established by spectral studies. Some of synthesized compounds of 2,6-di(benzofuranyl-2-yl)-4-phenyl-pyridine derivatives 3a-d were screened for their antibacterial activity with four different strains of bacteria using cup plate method. It was found that the 2,6-di (benzofuranyl-2-yl)-4-nitrophenyl-pyridine 3d exhibited significant antibacterial activity against E.coli compared to standard Ciprofloxacin.