Design, synthesis, and antifungal activities in vitro of novel tetrahydroisoquinoline compounds based on the structure of lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51) of fungi

Novel tetrahydroisoquinoline compounds were designed by coupling structure-based de novo design based on the structure of lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51). The chemical synthesis and the antifungal activities in vitro of them were reported. The results exhibited that all of the lead compounds showed potent antifungal activities, in which compounds 6 and 7 had equal or stronger antifungal activities against five test fungi than that of fluconazole. The studies presented here provided the antifungal lead compounds. The affinity of the lead molecules for CYP51 was mainly attributed to their non-bonding interaction with the apoprotein, which was different from the azole antifungal agents.