Synthesis and Biological Activity of Some Schiff Bases from Phthalimides

Abstract

Schiff bases have a wide variety of applications in various fields, e.g., biological, inorganic and analytical chemistry. They are used, e.g., in optical and electrochemical sensors, as well as in various chromatographic methods, to enable detection of enhance selectivity and sensitivity. They possess excellent characteristics, structural similarities with natural biological substances, relatively easy preparation procedures and the synthetic flexibility that enables design of suitable structural properties. Schiff bases have been reported in their biological properties, such as, antibacterial, antifungal activities. Their metal complexes have been widely studied because they have anticancer and herbicidal applications. Schiff bases are active against a wide range of organisms for example; Candida Albicans, Escherichia coli ,Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus polymxa, Trychophyton gypseum, Mycobacteria, Erysiphe graminis, and Plasmopora viticola A. All these facts prompted us to extend such works, and we focused to synthesise Schiff's bases with heterocyclic moieties such as phthalimides. We also planned to screen such newly synthesized Schiff's bases against microbial activities. A number of Schiff's bases have been prepared by reaction of amino and bromo substituted-N-aminophthalimides and aromatic aldehydes. Moreover N-aminophthalimides (50-70% yield) were synthesized by reactions of phthalimides and hydrazine hydrate. Following is the schematic diagram for preparation of Schiff's bases: