Synthesis, In vitro and In silico Studies of Benzothiazole Azo-Ester Derivatives as Anti-TB Agents

Introduction: A new series of benzothiazole azo-ester derivatives was synthesized by using Steglish esterification reaction. Methods: All the synthesized compounds were screened for their anti-TB activities by in vitro microplate Alamar Blue assay method against M. tuberculosis (H37RV strain). All the compounds showed activities and their MIC values were over the range of 1.6 µg/mL to 50 µg/mL. The compounds 4d and 4j showed superior activity with MIC 1.6 µg/mL compared to the standard drug Streptomycin (MIC 6.25 µg/mL), Pyrazinamide (MIC 3.125 µg/mL) and Ciprofloxacin (MIC 3.125 µg/mL). Results: Molecular docking study was carried out with enoyl acyl carrier reductase (InhA) of M. tuberculosis and decaprenyl phosphoryl-D-ribose oxidase (DprE1). Conclusion: These studies showed that these compounds have more interaction with InhA protein whereas some compounds could not be docked into DprE1.