Determining the Synthesis of N'-(Substituted benzylidene)-1-benzofuran-2- carbohydrazide and 5-(5-Substituted-1-benzofuran-2-yl)- 1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol as Potent Antioxidants

The reactions of substituted benzofuran-2-carbohydrazide (1) with various aromatic substituted aldehydes and carbon disulphide yielded corresponding N'-(substituted benzylidene)- 1-benzofuran-2-carbohydrazide (2a-f) and with CS2 yielded 5-(5-substituted-1-benzofuran-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiols (3a-c), respectively. The synthesized compounds were charact- erized by IR, 1H NMR and mass spectra. All the compounds were screened for their in vitro antioxidant activity using DPPH method and antimicrobial activity by cup-plate diffusion method. The compounds 2c, 3a and 3b shown potent radical scavenging activity and 2a, 2d, 3b and 3c have shown moderate antimicrobial activity. Due to the great biological importance of this scaffold, investigation of various methods for synthesis and structural modification of benzofuran derivatives have now become an important goal of several research groups.