Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some new benzo and naphthonitrile derivatives.

The reaction of 2-(cyanomethyl)benzonitrile (1) with different diazonium salts gave the corresponding aryldiazenyl derivatives 2a-e which reacted with sodium hydroxide and ethyl chloroacetate and hydroxylamine hydrochloride to afford the corresponding acetamides 4a-e, pyrazoloisoquinolines 6a-e and triazoloisoquinoline derivatives 8a-e, respectively. Moreover, the reaction of 1 with arylidene malononitriles 9a-c afforded dihydronaphthalenes 11a, b and naphthalene derivative 12, respectively. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized by analytical and spectral data. The investigated compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and antifungal activity. Among the synthesized compounds, (E)-2-(cyano((4-nitrophenyl)diazenyl)methyl)benzonitrile (2e) exhibited a significant activity toward both Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and exhibit the most potent in vitro antifungal with MIC's (6.25 μg/mL) against Botrytis fabae.