Green and Efficient Synthesis of 4‐Heteryl‐Quinolines and Their Antibacterial Evaluations

A green and efficient synthesis of 4-heteryl-quinolines (), () and () has been described using PEG-600 as a green solvent. Initially, 4-chloro-2-methylquinolines () on reaction with aromatic heterocyclic thiols (), (), and () using PEG-600 at 100°C for 30–40 min resulted in (), (), and () in good yields. Alternatively, (), (), and () could also be prepared in dimethylformamide using K2CO3 as base and tetrabutylammonium bromide as phase transfer catalyst at 100°C for 1–2 h. All the compounds were synthesized and characterized by IR, NMR, mass spectroscopy, and 13C NMR analysis. All synthesized compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity against clinical strains that include Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis MTCC 121, staphylococcus aureus MLS-16 MTCC 2940, Micrococcus lutes MTCC 2470, and Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 96) and Gram-negative bacteria (Candida albicans MTCC 3017, Klebsiella planticola MTCC 530, Escherichia coli MTCC 739, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 2453). The results revealed that compounds (, , , , , and ) exhibited significant antibacterial activity almost equal to the standard drug, that is, Ciprofloxacin.