Novel acyl thiourea derivatives: Synthesis, antifungal activity, gene toxicity, drug-like and molecular docking screening

Nine novel acyl thioureas were synthesized. Their identities and purities were confirmed by LC-MS spectra; each structure was elucidated by elemental analysis, IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR spectra. Applying an in vitro screening of their antifungal potential, three substances (3, 5, and 6) could be selected as showing high activity against 11 fungi and 3 Phytophthora strains of phytopathogenic significance. Analysis of gene toxicity with the Salmonella reverse mutagenicity test, as an assessment of drug likeness, lipophilicity, and calculations of frontier molecular orbitals assign a low toxicity profile to these compounds. Molecular docking studies point to 14 alpha-demethylase (CYP51) and N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) as possible fungal targets for growth inhibition. The findings are discussed with respect to structure-activity relationship (SAR).