Design, Synthesis, Antimicrobial Evaluation, and Laccase Catalysis Effect of Novel Benzofuran–Oxadiazole and Benzofuran–Triazole Hybrids

Abstract

Novel structural hybrids of benzofuran–oxadiazole and benzofuran–triazole have been synthesized and evaluated for their potential against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Escherichia coli. The excellent antibiotic activity was shown by compounds 5c and 9c against S. aureus with minimum inhibitory concentration values in 1.74–5.16 mg/mL range. The estimation of in vitro antifungal activity of synthetic compounds was performed against Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus niger, and Metarhizium anisopliae. Among compounds 5a–5j, only 5h and 5i showed promising antifungal potential against T. harzianum and A. niger, whereas compound 5j showed enhanced antifungal effect only against A. niger when their activity values were compared with standard drug amphotericin. No pronounced antifungal activity was shown by synthesized compounds 9a–j, except for compound 9g, which was active against all fungal strains having minimum inhibitory concentration values in 1.90–2.03 mg/mL range. In addition to antimicrobial evaluation, the synthesized compounds were also analyzed to study their effects on the catalytic potential of laccase, and it was found that among all, compound 9b showed very strong activity with maximum relative reactivity of 145% at 0.03‐mM concentration.