SYNTHESIS AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF 1,3-BIS(4-METHYL 4-BROMO/3-NITROPHENYL)PROPAN-1,3-DIONES AND THEIR /4-CHLORO/2-NITRO/2-ETHOXY/2,4-DICHLOROPHENYL)AZO] ANALOGS/

The reaction of substituted acetophenones (1-3) with 4-methyl-, 4-brom o- or 3-nitrobenzaldehyde (4-6) in ethanolic NaOH gives the correspond ing 1, 3-bis(4-methyl / 4-bromo / 3-nitrophenyl)-2-propen- 1 -ones (7- 9) in good yields, which on bromination yield substituted propan-1-one s (10-12). Refluxing of 10-12 with KOH in methanol followed by in situ acid hydrolysis of generated enol, furnish the substituted propan-1, 3-diones (13-15). The final step of synthesis involves the reaction of diazotised amines (16-20) with compounds 13-15 to afford the azo anal ogs (21-29). These compounds have been screened for their antifungal a ctivity and some of them exhibit significant activity.