Abstract:
A series of berberine derivatives were synthesized by introducing substituted benzyl groups at C-9. All these synthesized compounds (
4a-4m ) were screened for their
in vitro antibacterial activity against four Gram-positive bacteria and four Gram-negative bacteria and evaluated for their antifungal activity against three pathogenic fungal strains. All these compounds displayed good antibacterial and antifungal activities, compared to reference drugs including Ciprofloxacin and Fluconazole; Compounds
4f, 4g , and
4l showed the highest antibacterial and antifungal activities. Moreover, all the synthesized compounds were docked into topoisomerase Ⅱ-DNA complex, which is a crucial drug target for the treatment of microbial infections. Docking results showed that H-bond, π-π stacked, π-cationic, and π-anionic interactions were responsible for the strong binding of the compounds with the target protein-DNA complex.