Synthesis, biological activities and 3D-QSAR studies of (R)-2-phenyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxamide derivatives containing a sulfur ether moiety

A series of (R)-2-phenyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxamide derivatives containing a sulfur ether moiety were synthesized and characterized on the basis of NMR and elemental analysis (EA). The crystal structure of (R)-N-(2-methyl-1-(methylthio)propan-2-yl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxamide (13d) was determined to show R configuration. The bioasssy results indicated that most title compounds displayed good and broad spectrum antifungal activities against several phytopathogenic fungi. The structure activity relationships were discussed. Based on the antifungal activity of title compounds against Phytophthora capsici, a CoMSIA calculation was performed to establish a 3D-QSAR model, which revealed that electrostatic and hydrophobic fields were the two most significant factors for antifungal activity. According to the established 3D-QSAR model, structure optimization was carried out to find (R)-N-((R)-1-(methylthio)propan-2-yl)-2-(p-tolyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxamide (15h) with excellent activity against Phytophthora capsici, thus emerging as a new lead compound for novel antiphytopathogenic fungus agent development.