Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a threat to global health stability. Pyrimidine carboxamides have demonstrated potent anti-tubercular properties against clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB. Herein, we report a follow-up study on the synthesis of pyrimidine carboxamide molecular analogues and their anti-TB evaluation. In total, a library consisting of 37 new compounds is reported. Seven compounds (7b, 7d, 7m, 7p, 7q, 7aa, and 7ah) demonstrated excellent in vitro activities with MIC90 values below 1.00 mu M. Apart from compound 7ah, compounds with improved aqueous solubility properties had lower anti-TB potency. Preliminary mode of action studies using bioluminescence assays indicate that the active compounds do not affect the integrity of mycobacterial DNA or the cell wall. The active compounds were also found to be bactericidal against replicating H37Rv Mtb strain.