Synthesis, Absolute Configuration, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Activities of Novel Benzofuryl β-Amino Alcohols

Design, synthesis, and bioactivity of ferulic acid derivatives containing an β-amino alcohol

Background

Plant diseases caused by viruses and bacteria cause huge economic losses due to the lack of effective control agents. New potential pesticides can be discovered through biomimetic synthesis and structural modification of natural products. A series of ferulic acid derivatives containing an β-amino alcohol were designed and synthesized, and their biological activities were evaluated.

Result

Bioassays results showed that the EC₅₀ values of compound D24 against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was 14.5 μg/mL, which was better than that of bismerthiazol (BT, EC₅₀ = 16.2 μg/mL) and thiodiazole copper (TC, EC₅₀ = 44.5 μg/mL). The in vivo curative and protective activities of compound D24 against Xoo were 50.5% and 50.1%, respectively. The inactivation activities of compounds D2, D3 and D4 against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) at 500 μg/mL were 89.1, 93.7 and 89.5%, respectively, superior to ningnanmycin (93.2%) and ribavirin (73.5%). In particular, the EC₅₀ value of compound D3 was 38.1 μg/mL, and its molecular docking results showed that compound D3 had a strong affinity for TMV-CP with a binding energy of − 7.54 kcal/mol, which was superior to that of ningnanmycin (− 6.88 kcal /mol).

Conclusions

The preliminary mechanism research results indicated that compound D3 may disrupt the three-dimensional structure of the TMV coat protein, making TMV particles unable to self-assemble, which may provide potential lead compounds for the discovery of novel plant antiviral agents.

Graphical Abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13065-022-00828-8.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 1-(tert-butylamino)-3-mesitylpropan-2-ol hemihydrate

In the crystal, the two independent mol­ecules are linked through the water mol­ecules by inter­molecular O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, producing chains along the b-axis direction. These chains are linked with neighboring chains parallel to the (103) plane via C—H inter­actions, generating ribbons along the b axis. The van der Waals inter­actions between the strips ensure the stability of mol­ecular packaging.

The title compound, 2C₁₆H₂₇NO·H₂O, crystallizes in the monoclinic P2₁/c space group with two independent mol­ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. In the crystal, mol­ecules A and B are linked through the water mol­ecules by inter­molecular O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, producing chains along the b-axis direction. These chains are linked with neighboring chains parallel to the (103) plane via C—H⋯π inter­actions, generating ribbons along the b-axis direction. The stability of the mol­ecular packaging is ensured by van der Waals inter­actions between the ribbons. According to the Hirshfeld surface study, H⋯H inter­actions are the most significant contributors to the crystal packing (80.3% for mol­ecule A and 84.8% for mol­ecule B).