Synthesis and Anticandidal Activity of New Imidazole-Chalcones.

In the present work, 15 new 1-(4-(1-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)-3-(4-substituedphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one derivatives (−) were synthesized to evaluate their antifungal activity. Structures of newly synthesized imidazole derivatives (−) were characterized by IR, ¹H-NMR, C-NMR, and LCMSMS spectroscopic methods. The anticandidal activity of compounds (−) against (ATCC 24433), (ATCC 6258), (ATCC 22019), and (ATCC 90030) was elucidated according to the EUCAST definitive (EDef 7.1) method. Consistent with the activity studies, − were found to be more potent derivatives with their MIC values (0.78 µg/mL−3.125 µg/mL) against strains. Compound indicated similar antifungal activity to ketoconazole against all species and was evaluated as the most active derivative in the series. Effects of the most potent derivatives − on ergosterol biosynthesis were observed by LC-MS-MS method, which is based on quantification of the ergosterol level in . Moreover, these compounds were subjected to a cytotoxicity test for the preliminary toxicological profiles and were found as non-cytotoxic. Furthermore, docking studies for the most active derivative were performed to evaluate its binding modes on lanosterol 14-α-demethylase. In addition to in vitro tests, docking studies also revealed that Compound is a potential ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitor.