Pyridines and Imidazopyridines with Medicinal Significance.

Pyridine and pyridine-fused ring systems are ubiquitous in medicinal research and demonstrate such diverse pharmacological benefits as anticonvulsant therapies, treatment for fungal and bacterial infections as well as chemotherapy agents. For example, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines have exhibited a broad range of activity as antiviral, antibacterial, analgesic, antipyretic, and antiinflammatory agents. Indeed many advances in the development of novel synthetic approaches to the pyridines and their fused counterparts are designed around the relevance of these systems to pharmacological research. Moreover, pyridine-based natural products with interesting biological activity continue to be discovered each year. This article highlights recent (2004-2014) discoveries related to the medicinal and pharmacological significance of pyridines, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, quinolones and a few other pyridine-fused compounds and is organized around their type of biological activity.