Synthesis of some new substituted fluoro benzimidazoles and their antimicrobial screening

A series of novel 5-fluoro-2-[(2'-(1-trityl tetrazol-5-yl) biphenyl-4-yl methyl) thio]-6-substituted-1H-benzimidazoles were prepared by alkylation of 6-substituted-2-mercapto-5-fluoro benzimidazoles with 5-[4'-(bromo methyl) biphenyl-2-yl]-1-trityl-1H-tetrazole. The synthesized compounds were screened against different strains of bacteria and fungi. The most active derivatives of the present series were the azole (imidazole and 1,2,4-triazole) substituted fluoro benzimidazoles and the para chloro phenyl ether analog indicating the importance of a halogenated diphenyl ether nucleus and the azole moiety at the 6th position. The results suggest that these three molecules are potential candidates for further development as antibacterial and antifungal agents.