Synthesis and antibacterial activity of pyridinium-tailored 2,5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole thioether/sulfoxide/sulfone derivatives

By introducing the pyridinium group into 2,5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole, a series of pyridinium-tailored 2,5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole thioether/sulfoxide/sulfone derivatives were obtained, and their antibacterial activities were evaluated via turbidimeter test in vitro. The bioassays reveal that most of the target compounds exhibit better inhibition activities against pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri than positive controls bismerthiazol (CK1) or thiodiazole copper (CK2). Among them, I-8, I-10, I-12, II-10, II-12, III-10, and III-12 exert excellent inhibition activities against the three pathogenic bacteria with the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) values ranging from 0.54 to 12.14 mu g/mL. Our results demonstrate that pyridinium-tailored 1,3,4-oxadiazole thioether/sulfoxide/sulfone derivatives can serve as potential alternative bactericides for the management of plant bacterial diseases. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.