Synthesis, antifungal activities and molecular docking studies of novel 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-2-hydroxy-3-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propyl dithiocarbamates

Abstract

A series of 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-2-hydroxy-3-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propyl dithiocarbamates as new analogs of fluconazole were synthesized and their antifungal activities were evaluated. Among these compounds, 2a-f and 3a-q exhibited higher activities than fluconazole against nearly all fungi tested except Aspergillus fumigatus. Noticeably, the in vitro biological activities of 2b, 3a, 3c, 3h-k, and 3o-q against Candida species were much better than those of fluconazole and ketoconazole. Also, 2a-d, 3a-d, 3e-f, 3h-k, 3p and 3q showed higher activities against A. fumi than fluconazole. Computational docking experiments indicated that the inhibition of CYP51 involved a coordination bond with iron of the heme group, the hydrophilic H-bonding region, the hydrophobic region, and the narrow hydrophobic cleft.

Keywords: Antifungal activity; CYP51; Dithiocarbamate; SAR; Triazole.