New Groups of Potential Antituberculotics: Bis(1-aryltetrazol-5-yl) Disulfides. Structure Activity Relationship

Abstract
Oxidation of 1-aryltetrazole-5-thiols afforded bis(1-aryltetrazol-5-yl) disulfides. The compounds were tested for antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. kansasii, M. avium and M. fortuitum. In the case of M. tuberculosis, the logarithm of minimum inhibitory concentration showed a parabolic dependence on hydrophobic substituent constants. Although the compounds exhibited low to medium activity, the most active derivative, bis(4-chlorophenyltetrazol-5-yl) disulfide (III) was more effective against atypical strains than are the commercial tuberculostatics used as standards.