Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking study of pyridine clubbed 1,3,4-oxadiazoles as potential antituberculars

<p>A series of pyridine clubbed 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives were efficiently synthesized, characterized by standard spectral techniques and evaluated for their <i>in vitro</i> antitubercular activity against <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> (MTB) H₃₇Ra and <i>Mycobacterium bovis</i> BCG in active and dormant state using an established methods. Compounds <b>5a, 5m</b>, and <b>5t</b> were identified as the most active compounds against MTB. Molecular docking was performed against MTB enoyl-ACP (CoA) reductase (FabI/ENR/InhA) enzyme to predict the binding modes and affinity. The theoretical predictions from molecular docking could establish a link between the observed biological activity and the binding affinity shedding light into specific bonded and non-bonded interactions influencing the activity. The active compounds were studied for cytotoxicity against three cell lines and were found to be non-cytotoxic. Specificity of these compounds was checked by screening them for their antibacterial activity against four bacterial strains.</p