A novel antifungal agent with broad spectrum: 1-(4-biphenylyl)-3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1-propanone.

A series of (1-substituted aryl)-3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1-propanones was synthesized through the N-alkylation of imidazole with 3-dimethylamino-1-(substituted aryl)-1-propanone hydrochlorides (ketonic Mannich bases). A second series of N(1) -substituted imidazoles was obtained by the reduction of the carbonyl function of the imidazole-ketones in the previous series by means of NaBH(4) . All of the compounds were evaluated for antifungal activity against 16 strains of Candida, and 3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1-(4-biphenylyl)-1-propanone emerged as a broad-spectrum antifungal agent. Several 3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1-(2'-(substituted benzyl)oxyphenyl)-1-propanones were also active towards Candida kefyr.