Synthesis, photochemical E (trans)-->Z (cis) isomerization and antimicrobial activity of 2-chloro-5-methylpyridine-3-olefin derivatives.

2-Chloro-5-methylpyridine-3-olefin derivatives (3a-e) have been synthesized from 2-chloro-5-methylnicotinaldehyde (1) and studied their photochemical E (trans)-->Z (cis) isomerization upon direct irradiation and triplet sensitized excitation for the first time. The triplet sensitized excitations of the compounds yielded high Z (4a-e) isomer composition, whereas the direct excitation results in less Z (4a-e) isomer composition, indicating triplet pathway is very efficient in converting the E (trans)-->Z (cis) isomer. Thus synthesized E (3a-c and 3e) and generated Z (4a-c and 4e) isomers were tested for antimicrobial activity. Antifungal activity of these pyridine derivatives are closely comparable to the standard used.