BENZOTHIAZOLE – A MAGIC MOLECULE

Antimicrobial resistance has been called one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. Addressing the issue of antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent priorities in the fields of public health today. Alarmingly, the development of resistance such as multi-drug resistance towards a number of antibiotics poses a challenge to the scientific community in the discovery of new therapies. Thus, there is a need to develop newer and effective molecules with high safety profile. Benzothiazoles are fused membered rings, which contain heterocycles bearing thiazole. Sulphur and nitrogen atoms constitute the core structure of thiazole and many pharmacologically and biologically active compounds. Benzothiazole is an interesting pharmacophore exhibiting diverse pharmacological activities like antimicrobial, anticancer, anthelminthic, antidiabetic, antitubercular, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antipsychotic etc. The present article extensively covers various procedures of synthesis of 2-substituted benzothiazole core and its analogs – by utilizing distinctive catalysts, solvent conditions, reactants immobilized on solid support and microwave irradiation. Variations in synthetic procedures are studied to explore chemo-selectivity of the reactions, in-expensive, eco-friendly, less time consuming procedure with easy and quick isolation of the products. Ongoing clinical trials of different benzothiazole derivatives, exploring additional pharmacological activities, are also included.