Ecofriendly synthesis and biological evaluation of 4-(4-nitro-phenyl)-2-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxylic acid ethyl ester derivatives as an antitubercular agents

An ecofriendly route has been investigated for the synthesis of 4-(4-nitro-phenyl)-2-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxylic acid ethyl ester derivatives by one-pot, three-component condensation of ethyl benzoylacetate, aromatic aldehydes, and 2-amino benzimidazole using 260 mol% of citric acid as reaction mediator. Citric acid is an inexpensive, nontoxic, and green medium with smoothly activates the rate of reaction. The synthesized compounds were assessed for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RV strain using the microplate alamar blue assay (MABA). The results indicate that among all the synthesized compound series, P-4 and P-9 compounds illustrate effective activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 25 µg/ml.