Design, synthesis and investigation on the structure-activity relationships of N-substituted 2-aminothiazole derivatives as antitubercular agents.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the deadliest infectious diseases of all times, and its recent resurgence is a supreme matter of concern. Co-infection with HIV and, in particular, the continuous isolation of new resistant strains, makes the discovery of novel anti-TB agents a strategic priority. The research of novel agents should be driven by the accessibility of the synthetic procedure and, in particular, by the lack of cross-resistance with the drugs already marketed. Moreover, in order to shorten the duration of the therapy, and therefore decrease the rate of resistance, these molecules should be active also against the nonreplicating persistent form (NRP-TB) of the infection. The availability of an in-house small library of compounds prompted us to investigate their anti-TB activity. Two compounds, embodying a 2-aminothiazole scaffold, were found to possess a certain inhibitory activity toward Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, and therefore a medicinal chemistry campaign was initiated in order to increase the activity of the hit compounds and, especially, construct a plausible body of structure-activity relationships. The potency of the hit compound was successfully improved, and, much more importantly, some of the molecules synthesized were found to be active toward the persistent phenotype, and, also, toward a panel of resistant strains. These findings encourage further investigations around this interesting antitubercular chemotype.