Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of antimycobacterial and cytotoxic activity of new α,β-unsaturated amide, oxazoline and oxazole derivatives from L-serine

Abstract The synthesis of 19 compounds derived from L-serine and analogs of p-substituted cinnamic acid is reported. Oxazolines 9 and oxazoles 10 have high antitubercular activity with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 0.7812-25.0 µg/mL (3.21-100.3 µM), against two strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis sensitive to first-line drugs Isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (RIF), Ethambutol (EMB), Pyrazinamide (PZE) (H37Rv) and a clinical isolate resistant to INH, RIF and EMB (G122). The cytotoxic evaluation shows that oxazoles have low activity, finding viability greater than 96% against the VERO cell line. The results show these compounds could be considered as future alternatives for antitubercular treatment.