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Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are responsible for over 500,000 deaths annually and are characterized by
multiple disabilities. Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are among the most severe NTDs, and are caused by the Leishmania
sp, and Trypanosoma cruzi, respectively. Glucantime, pentamidine and miltefosine are commonly used to treat leishmaniasis, whereas nifurtimox, benznidazole are current treatments for Chagas disease. However, these treatments are associated
with drug resistance, and severe side effects. Hence, the development of synthetic products, especially those containing N02,
F, or Cl, which chemical groups are known to improve the biological activity. The present work summarizes the information
on the antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activity of nitro-, chloro-, and fluoro-synthetic derivatives. Scientific publications referring to halogenated derivatives in relation to antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activities were hand searched
in databases such as SciFinder, Wiley, Science Direct, PubMed, ACS, Springer, Scielo, and so on. According to the literature
information, more than 90 compounds were predicted as lead molecules with reference to their IC50/EC50 values in in vitro
studies. It is worth to mention that only active compounds with known cytotoxic effects against mammalian cells were
considered in the present study. The observed activity was attributed to the presence of nitro-, fluoro- and chloro-groups in
the compound backbone. All in all, nitro and h0alogenated derivatives are active antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal
compounds and can serve as baseline for the development of new drugs against leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. However,
efforts on in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies of the active synthetic compounds is still needed. Pharmacokinetic studies,
and the mechanism of action of the promising compounds need to be explored. The use of new catalysts and chemical
transformation can afford unexplored halogenated compounds with improved antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activity.
Synthesis and in vitro leishmanicidal activity of novel [1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine salts