Synthesis, antibacterial and antifungal activities of electron-rich olefins derived benzimidazole compounds.

New benzimidazole derivatives were synthesised by electron-rich olefines (7, 8 and 9) with appropriate reagents. The compounds synthesised were identified by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR spectroscopic techniques and elemental analysis. All compounds studied in this work were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activities against the standard strains: Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) and the yeasts Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. Eleven of the compounds inhibited the growth of gram-positive bacteria (E. faecalis and S. aureus) at MIC values between 50 and 400 microg/ml. None of the compounds exhibit antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and P. Aeruginosa) at the concentrations studied (6.25-800 microg/ml). Nine of the tested compounds showed an antifungal activity with a range of the MICs between 50 and 400 microg/ml.