Anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis agents derived from quinoxaline-2-carbonitrile and quinoxaline-2-carbonitrile 1,4-di-N-oxide.

In this paper new quinoxaline derivatives with different substituents in positions 3, 6, 7 and 8 are reported. Their biological activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been assessed and most of the 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives have been shown to strongly inhibit the bacteria growth in the first in vitro screening. One of these N-oxides (4) is a promising candidate due to its good Selectivity Index (7.95). On the other hand, those compounds without N-oxide moieties showed no or very low activity (growth inhibition: 17% and 39%).