Abstract
Seven new C-7 acylhydrazone derivatives of dehydroabietic acid were synthesised from dehydroabietic acid through benzylic oxidation, condensation with hydrazine hydrate, followed by nucleophilic substitution reactions with a variety of substituted aromatic acids. The structures of the synthesised compounds were characterised by IR, 1H NMR and MS. The antibacterial activities of the synthesised compounds were evaluated by the disk diffusion method. Antibacterial activity studies showed that C-7 acylhydrazone derivatives of dehydroabietic acid exhibited inhibitory activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. Among the seven compounds, dehydroabietic acid p-fluorobenzoyl hydrazone showed the strongest inhibitory activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus.