Synthesis and biological evaluation of new 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazole derivatives as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents

Imidazole derivatives have a wide range of applications in pharmaceutical chemistry and are studied as bioactive compounds in medicinal chemistry. Such as anti-depressant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties. Two series of imidazole derivatives (1a-1f) and (2a-2f), were synthesized using a simple, highly versatile, and efficient protocol that utilized aspartic acid as a catalyst under reflex conditions, resulting in good to excellent yields. The structures of all prepared compounds were characterized using FT-IR, NMR (¹H & ¹³C) spectroscopic methods, and elemental analysis. All compounds were screened for their potential as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. Among evaluated compounds, 1c, 1d, 2c, and 2d exhibit a predominant IC₅₀ in antioxidant assay compared to ascorbic acid as a standard drug. The screening for antibacterial activity and antifungal activity indicated that all compounds displayed good to excellent activities compared to the standard drugs. Therefore, this suggests their potential for developing new therapeutic drugs.