Microbial resistance to the available drugs poses a serious threat in modern medicine. We report the design, synthesis and in vitro antimicrobial evaluation of new functionalized 2,3-dihydrothiazoles and 4-thiazolidinones tagged with sulfisoxazole moiety. Compound 8d was most active against Bacillis subtilis (MIC, 0.007 µg/mL). Moreover, compounds 7c-d and 8c displayed significant activities against B. subtilis and Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC, 0.03-0.06 µg/mL and 0.06-0.12 µg/mL versus ampicillin 0.24 µg/mL and 0.12 µg/mL; respectively). Compounds 7a and 7c-d were highly potent against Escherichia coli (MIC, 0.49-0.98 µg/mL versus gentamycin 1.95 µg/mL). On the other hand, compounds 7e and 9c were fourfolds more active than amphotericin B against Syncephalastrum racemosum. Molecular docking studies showed that the synthesized compounds could act as inhibitors for the dihydropteroate synthase enzyme (DHPS). This study is a platform for the future design of more potent antimicrobial agents.
Keywords: Antimicrobial agents; molecular docking; sulfonamide; thiazole.