NMR Spectroscopy and antibacterial activity of sulfur-substituted ß-hetarylacrylonitriles

A complete nmr spectroscopic characterization of a series of twenty four 5-thio- or 5-sulfonyl- substituted furyl-, thienyl-, and N-methylpyrrolylacrylonitriles was carried out. Where appropriate a three-bond long range C-H coupling constant was used for determining the stereochemistry of the double bond. Ten of the compounds were tested for antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacteria.