In the context of the new life-threatening COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, finding new antiviral and antimicrobial compounds is a priority in current research. Pyridine is a privileged nucleus among heterocycles; its compounds have been noted for their therapeutic properties, such as antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, analgesic, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-ulcer or antidiabetic. It is known that a pyridine compound, which also contains a heterocycle, has improved therapeutic properties. The singular presence of the pyridine nucleus, or its one together with one or more heterocycles, as well as a simple hydrocarbon linker, or grafted with organic groups, gives the key molecule a certain geometry, which determines an interaction with a specific protein, and defines the antimicrobial and antiviral selectivity for the target molecule. Moreover, an important role of pyridine in medicinal chemistry is to improve water solubility due to its poor basicity. In this article, we aim to review the methods of synthesis of pyridine compounds, their antimicrobial and antiviral activities, the correlation of pharmaceutical properties with various groups present in molecules as well as the binding mode from Molecular Docking Studies.
Keywords: antimicrobial; antiviral; heterocyclic compounds; pyridine; synthesis.