International Journal of PharmTech Research CODEN (USA): IJPRIF ISSN : 0974-4304 Vol. 3, No.1, pp 99-103, Jan-Mar 2011 Synthesis, Antimicrobial and Sedative Hypnotic Activity of Cinnamoyl Ureas M. Vijey Aanandhi 1 *, Prem Shanker Mishra 1 , Shiny George 1 , Rakhi Chaudhary 2 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vels University, Chennai-600117, India. 2 SRMSCET, Bareilly.Uttarpradesh,.India *Corres. author: mvaanandhi@gmail.com, Tel: 04422662513 Abstract: The present investigation is concerned with the synthesis of a series of cinnamoyl ureas with the object of discovering novel and potent sedative hypnotic and antimicrobial agent. Substituted cinnamoyl ureas were synthesized from cinnamoyl chloride derivatives by reaction with urea. The structure of all synthesized compounds was elucidated by IR and 1 H NMR analysis. The compounds were screened for sedative hypnotic and antimicrobial activity. 1-((E)-3-p- nitrocinnamoyl) urea showed good sedative hypnotic activity at 80mg/kg dose level. 1-((E)-3-(4- chlorophenyl)acryloyl) urea showed good antibacterial activity. Keywords: cinnamoyl urea, sedative, hypnotic, antimicrobial. INTRODUCTION: Cinnamic acid plays an important role in antimicrobial activity 1-3 . Piperine and its derivatives are effective sedative hypnotic and smooth muscle relaxant agents 4, 5 . The Chemical structure of piperine places it in the group of cinnamamides. Antiepilepsirine, one of the derivatives of piperine is used as an antiepileptic drug 6 . Congeners of cinnamamides possess sedative, hypnotic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant and skeletal muscle relaxing activity 7,8 . The amino group of cinromide which is an analogue of cinnamamide with antimicrobial and smooth muscle relaxant action can be replaced by urea giving rise to acyl urea derivatives. On the basis of this, various compounds were synthesized having urea in place of amino group and by substituting benzene ring with different functional groups producing a series of acyl ureas (Scheme 1). These new compounds possess features similar to above mentioned series of compounds and are exhibiting similar pattern of pharmacological activities. EXPERIMENTAL All protocols of animal experiments have been approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC). Melting points were determined by open capillary method and were uncorrected. The reaction was monitored by TLC using solvent Hexane: Ethyl acetate (2:1). FT-IR spectra was recorded on Shimadzu FT 8300 and 1 H NMR were recorded at JEOL GSX400 spectrometer. The chemicals used were obtained from Merck, SD fine and Sigma Aldrich Laboratories and were of the laboratory grade. The physical data of synthesized compounds are given in Table 1.