Abstract
The amides of piperic acid have been synthesized via the condensation of piperic acid with amines. The structural characterization was done by IR, H-1-NMR, EI-MS and elemental analysis. The amides 3a-3o were evaluated for their biological activity. It has been found that among others the newly synthesized compound 3f, 3k, 3m, and 3o have great potential against root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita that usually affect tomato crop. These compounds exhibited 92, 96, 82 and 95% mortality rate at lethal concentration (LC50) 4.4, 3.4, 4.5 and 3.5 mg/mL, respectively. Conventionally used nematicide furadan was taken as standard. Compound 3h, 3c and, 3j exhibited significant anti-oxidant activities against 1,1-diphenylpicrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical with 80, 70 and 72% inhibition (EC50 = 625, 937 and 937.5 mu g/mL), respectively. Ascorbic acid was used as standard. When tested for antimicrobial activity 3m was found to be the most active one showing zone of inhibition in the range of 18-30 mm against all tested microbial strains. Good biological activities of synthetic amides indicate their ability to behave as a good antimicrobial and nematicidal agent.