A number of mono and bicyclic nitroimidazoles were screened for in vitro antileishmanial activity. Among these, compounds belonging to the class of nitroimidazo[2,1-b]oxazoles showed moderate to good activity. This class of compounds had been reported previously to have pronounced antitubercular activity, particularly CGI17341 (5a). In the present study (5a) and (5d) and (7) were found to be more potent antileishmanials in vitro than the standard and less toxic in relation to a reference compound. (7) Was earlier formulated to have the phenyl group located on C-2(5b).
Keywords: Nitroimidazoles; antileishmanial activity; nitroimidazooxazoles; satranidazole.