Room-Temperature Synthesis of Aryl-Substituted Benzimidazoles and their Toxicity against Artemia salina

Abstract

Benzimidazoles are known to display pharmacological uses with a wide range of noticeable importance, such as antifungal, antiviral, antihypertensive, and antimicrobial. Thus, successful syntheses of benzimidazole containing compounds have been the primary goal of researchers and organic chemists in the medical industry and drug discovery. ‘Green chemistry’ approach to developing drug leads has been widely encouraged since the past decades. In this study, the ‘green chemistry’ approach in synthesizing benzimidazole derivatives was successfully utilized to yield compounds at room temperature using ferric sulfate (Fe2(SO4)3/SiO2) as the catalyst and then subjected to toxicity assay against Artemia salina. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectral analyses of the synthesized compounds confirmed the structures of the synthesized benzimidazole derivatives. Moreover, the method gave satisfactory yields of about 22.62- 51.94%. The toxicity results revealed a wide range varied from mild to highly toxic (<10.00 ppm - 968.72 ppm) at chronic levels, suggesting a potential application of synthesized compounds in the pharmacological industry. ><10.00 ppm - 968.72 ppm) at chronic levels, suggesting a potential application of synthesized compounds in the pharmacological industry.