Synthesis and antimycobacterial evaluation of substituted pyrazinecarboxamides.

Unsubstituted, halogenated and/or alkylated pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid amides connected via -CONH- bridge with substituted anilines were synthesized using currently known synthetic pathways. The synthetic approach, analytical, spectroscopic, lipophilicity and biological data of 20 newly synthesized compounds are presented. Structure-activity relationships among the chemical structures, the antimycobacterial, antifungal, photosynthesis inhibiting and antialgal activity of the evaluated substituted N-phenylpyrazine-2-carboxamides are discussed. 5-tert-Butyl-6-chloro-N-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyrazine-2-carboxamide (19) has shown the highest activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv (MIC=3.13 microg/mL). The highest antifungal effect against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, the most susceptible fungal strain tested, was found for N-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyrazine-2-carboxamide (14, MIC=62.5 micromol/mL). The highest reduction of chlorophyll content in Chlorella vulgaris was found for pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)amide (9, IC(50)=12.1 micromol/L).