Design, Synthesis, and Molecular Docking of 1-(1-(4-Chlorophenyl)‎-2-(phenylsulfonyl)‎ethylidene)‎-2-phenylhydrazine as Potent Nonazole Anticandidal Agent

Abstract EN

1-(1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2-(phenylsulfonyl)ethylidene)-2-phenylhydrazine (13) was designed and synthesized as potential nonazole anticandidal agent and precisely characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and ESI-MS.

The anti-Candida activity of 13 was evaluated against four Candida species (C.

albicans, C.

krusei, C.

parapsilosis, and C.

glabrata).

Compound 13 displayed good anticandidal activities (MIC=0.39, 0.195, 0.39, and 1.56 μmol/mL, resp.) in comparison with that of the standard drug fluconazole (MIC=0.195, inactive, 1.56, and 1.56 μmol/mL, resp.) against C.

albicans, C.

krusei, C.

parapsilosis, and C.

glabrata, respectively.

A molecular modeling of the newly synthesized compound 13 was built in order to investigate its mode of action towards the prospective target cytochrome P450-dependent enzyme lanosterol 14α-demethylase (PDB-code: 1EA1).

The docking results showed a similar binding interaction of 13 and fluconazole at the active site of CYT P450 14α-sterol demethylase.

Furthermore, compound 13 showed no cytotoxicity against normal human breast cell line MCF10A.