Twelve novel benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and their in vitro activities against epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi were evaluated. Two derivatives (6 and 7), which have 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl moiety in their structures, proved to be the most active in inhibiting the parasite growth. Compound 6 showed a trypanocidal activity higher than benznidazole (IC50=5µM and 7.5µM, respectively) and less than nifurtimox (IC50=3.6µM). In addition, the ability of 6 and 7 to modify the redox homeostasis in T cruzi epimastigote was studied; cysteine and glutathione increased in parasites exposed to both compounds, whereas trypanothione only increased with 7 treatment. These results suggest that the decrease in viability of T. cruzi may be attributed to the change in cellular redox balance caused by compound 6 or 7. Furthermore, compounds 6 and 7 showed CC50 values of 160.64 and 160.66µM when tested in mouse macrophage cell line J774 and selectivity indexes (macrophage/parasite) of 32 and 20.1, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.