Synthesis and Antimicrobial Characterization of Half-Calycanthaceous Alkaloid Derivatives

Synthesis of novel naphthalene-chimonanthine scaffolds hybrids with potent antibacterial or antifungal activity

In this work, a total of 19 novel naphthalene hybrids with chimonanthine scaffolds were efficiently synthesised from indole-3-acetonitrile in good yields. The prepared compounds were evaluated for biological activity against Cryptococcus neoformans, Escherichia coli, Shigella spp, Candida albicans, Salmonella spp, and Staphylococcus aureus. The preliminary bioassays showed that most of the synthesised compounds exhibited significant antibacterial or antifungal activity. Notably, compound 8 showed potent activity against Cryptococcus neofonmans, Escherichia coli, Shigella spp, and Candida albicans than the positive control, all with the same MIC value of 3.53 µM. Compound 8 had a broad spectrum of antibacterial or antifungal activity, and will be studied further.

Synthesis and Structure–Activity Analysis of Novel Potential Antifungal Cyclotryptamine Alkaloid Derivatives

A total of 39 novel cyclotryptamine alkaloid derivatives were prepared from 2-(1H-indol-3-yl) acetonitrile. The prepared compounds were evaluated against six plant pathogen fungi. Bioassay results revealed that most of the compounds displayed higher in vitro antifungal activities than the positive control. Notably, compound b2 displayed the broadest and most effective activity among the tested cyclotryptamine alkaloid derivatives and might be a novel potential leading compound for further development as an antifungal agent.

Synthesis and Antifungal Activity of Chimonanthus praecox Derivatives

To search for efficient agricultural antifungal lead compounds, 39 Chimonanthus praecox derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antifungal activities. The structures of target compounds were fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and MS spectra. The preliminary bioassays revealed that some compounds exhibited excellent antifungal activities in vitro. For example, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compound b15 against Phytophthora infestans was 1.95 µg mL−1, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compound b17 against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was 1.95 µg mL−1. Therefore, compounds b15 and b17 were identified as the most promising candidates for further study.

Synthesis and antifungal activity of novel chiral indole analogues

Starting from L-tryptophan, 19 new N-substituted chiral indole analogs were synthesized. The prepared compounds were evaluated for biological activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Alternaria solani, Verticillium dahliae, Colletotrichum orbiculare, Cytospora juglandis and Curvularia lunata. The preliminary bioassays showed that most of the synthesized compounds exhibited fungicidal activity. Compound b13 in particular exhibited significant antifungal activity against Verticillium dahliae and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, with the MIC value of 1.95 µg mL^-1. Compound b13 also showed excellent activity against six plant pathogen fungi, and was identified as the most active on the biological assays, and will be studied further.

Synthesis and fungicidal activity of novel pyrroloindole scaffolds and their derivatives

The key scaffold of a pyrroloindole ring is a very important structure, which is isolated from plants and fungi with a variety of medical and fungicidal activities.

Synthesis and biological profiling of half-calycanthaceous alkaloid analogues

During our continuous efforts to pursue antifungal agents, some calycanthaceous alkaloid analogs showed diverse and promising bioactivities. Therefore, 34 new calycanthaceous alkaloid derivatives were further prepared and screened for bioactivities. As a result of the evaluation against a great deal of plant pathogen fungi, bacteria and human pathogenic fungi, a majority of them displayed potent bioactivity. In particular, compound b6 displayed remarkably activity and might be novel potential leading compound for further development of antifungal agent. The relationship between structure and biological activity was also discussed.

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Calycanthaceous Derivatives

A series of calycanthaceous alkaloid analogs have been synthesized in excellent yields. All the target compounds were evaluated in vitro for biological activity against a broad range of plant pathogen fungi, bacteria and human pathogenic fungi, and some of the designed compounds exhibited potential activity in the primary assays. Notably, Compound b7 illustrated higher degrees of activity against Aspergillu sflavu than amphotericin B, with a minimal inhibitory concentration value of 15.63 µg·mL−1. Compound b7 displayed the most effective activity among the tested calycanthaceous analogs and might be a novel potential leading compound for further development of antifungal agent.

Synthesis and biological evaluations of a series of calycanthaceous analogues as antifungal agents

Starting from indole-3-acetonitrile, a total of 66 new calycanthaceous alkaloid analogues were synthesised in excellent yields. The prepared compounds were evaluated for their biological activities against a broad range of plant pathogen fungi. The results of bioassays indicated that the majority of tested compounds displayed comparable or better in vitro bioactivities than the positive control. Notably, Compound a1 displayed a significant activities against B. cereus, Escherichia sp and R. solanacearum, even better than the positive control streptomycin and Penicillin, with the same MIC value of 15.63 µg mL^-1. Compound a1 displayed a broad spectrum and remarkably activities among the tested calycanthaceous analogues and might be a novel potential leading compound for further development of antifungal agents. The results obtained in the study will be very helpful for further design and structural optimisation of calycanthaceous alkaloids as potential agrochemical lead for plant disease control.

Resveratrol and Coumarin: Novel Agricultural Antibacterial Agent against Ralstonia solanacearum In Vitro and In Vivo

Bacterial wilt is a destructive disease caused by the phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum (R. solanacearum), which is widely found in various tobacco-growing areas all over the world. Botanical bactericidal substances have gradually emerged as a hot topic in modern pesticide research. In this study, the antibacterial activities of two phytochemicals (resveratrol and coumarin) against R. solanacearum and their in vivo and in vitro efficacy for controlling tobacco bacterial wilt were evaluated. We rule out significant biological effects of both phytochemicals using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and fluorescence microscope, which suppressed the growth of R. solanacearum. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the toxicity mechanisms mainly involved damaging bacterial cell membrane and preventing swarming motility and biofilm formation. A further pot experiment demonstrated that coumarin and resveratrol significantly inhibited early adhesion and colonization of R. solanacearum in tobacco plants and the corresponding control efficacies were 68% and 85% after incubation for 13 days, respectively. The findings of this study suggest that both resveratrol and coumarin have potential as non-toxic antimicrobial strategies for controlling tobacco bacterial wilt disease.