Several 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives having a hydrazino side chain were synthesized from 3-diazo-naphthalene-1,2,4-trione and tested as potential antimicrobial agents. These naphthoquinone derivatives 2-[N'-(1-acetyl-2-oxo-propylidene)-hydrazino]-3-hydroxy -[1,4]naphthoquinone, ethyl 2-[(3-hydroxy-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydro-naphthalen-2-yl)-hydrazono] -3-oxo-butyrate, t-butyl 2-[(3-hydroxy-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydro-naphthalen-2-yl)-hydrazono]-3-oxo -butyrate, 3-hydroxy-2-[(di-O-isopropylidene-malonate)-hydrazino]-1,4-naphthoquinone, and diethyl 2-[(3-hydroxy-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydro-naphthalen-2-yl)-hydrazono]-malonate showed greater antibacterial activity at the level of the preliminary susceptibility testing in disk than lapachol (1), a well known 1,4-naphthoquinone which has several biological activities. Studies on the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for Staphylococcus aureus showed that diethyl 2-[(3-hydroxy-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydro-naphthalen-2-yl)-hydrazono]-malonate has an activity twofold greater than 1. On the other hand, optical density measurement for S. aureus indicated that this compound has similar activity compared with vancomycin at 2xMIC.
naphthoquinone; hydrazino-naphthoquinone; antimicrobial activity; lapachol
