A new and efficient ZnCl2-catalyzed synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 2-amino-3,5-dicyano-4-aryl-6-aryl-aminopyridines as potent antibacterial agents against Helicobacter pylori (HP)

Here a new and efficient method via ZnCl2-catalyzed direct cyclization of diverse benzylidenemalononitriles and arylamines has been developed. With this method, a variety of novel 2-amino-3,5-dicyano-4-aryl-6-aryl-aminopyridines (2a–2v) could be easily prepared under the mild conditions with board substrate/functional group tolerance and decent product yields. The biological activities of the selected compounds (2c, 2e, 2g, 2i, 2k, 2m, 2n and 2o) has also been evaluated as new antibacterial agents. The results demonstrated that almost all of the compounds had more potent antibacterial activities against HP than that of clinically used drugs, Ornidazole, Metronidazole, Nitrimidazine and Clarithromycin, suggesting that further development of such compounds might be of great interest.