N-sulfonated derivatives of 2,3-xylidine as suitable antibacterial agents

The objective of the current research effort was to unravel the antibacterial potential of some newly synthesized sulfonamides. 2,3-dimethylaniline (2,3-xylidine,1) was reacted with different sulfonyl chlorides (2a-g) under dynamic control of ph (9-10) in aqueous alkaline medium to generate a series of n-sulfonated derivatives of 2,3-xylidine (3a-g). the plausible structures of the synthesized derivatives were corroborated by contemporary spectral techniques e.g. ir,1h-nmr and eims. moreover,n-sulfonated derivatives were screened against different gram negative and positive bacterial strains to evaluate their inhibitory potential. they depicted good to moderate inhibitory potential,especially,n-(2,3-dimethylphenyl)methanesulfonamide (3a),n-(2,3- dimethylphenyl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide (3b),n-(2,3-dimethylphenyl)-4- bromobenzenesulfonamide (3d) and n-(2,3-dimethylphenyl)naphthalene-2-yl-sulfonamide (3f) were amongst the potent inhibitors as compared to standard; ciprofloxacin. © 2015,chemical society of pakistan. all rights reserved.