Insights into selenylation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine: synthesis, structural and antimicrobial evaluation

An efficient methodology was developed to synthesize novel organoselenium derivatives of formyl-substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine by nucleophilic aromatic substitution with aryl selenolate anions generated in situ through the reduction of different diselenides. Herein, the crystal structure of 3-formyl-2-(phenylselanyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (5a) has been reported; moreover, theoretical investigations of all the compounds were performed to obtain insight into their structural information. The synthesized compounds were tested for their antimicrobial potential and encouraging results were obtained. The toxicity profile was assessed against HEK-293 and HeLa cell lines and the results were found to be well within the acceptable range. The synergistic studies showed that these compounds can be effectively used in combination with antibiotics to significantly enhance the antimicrobial effect.