Synthesis, characterization, crystal structure, in-vitro antimicrobial evaluation and molecular docking studies of 1-(furan-2-carbonyl)-3-alkyl-2,6-diphenylpiperidin-4-one derivatives

•Synthesized compounds were structurally characterized using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D NMR and MS spectral studies.•In-vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity was carried out, against pathogenic microbial strains.•The crystal structure of 1-Furoyl-2,6-diphenyl-3-methylpiperidin-4-one (10) is determined by X-Ray crystallographic method.•Molecular docking studies for the synthesized compounds were performed with the GTP binding protein as a target.

A new class of various furoyl derivatives of 2,6-disubstituted piperidin-4-ones were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, NMR, mass and single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The synthesized compounds were subjected to in-vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities against pathogenic microbial strains. The results pointed out that compounds 11, 12 & 14 displayed pronounced activity towards gram positive bacteria, whereas the compounds 9, 13 & 14 showed a superior inhibition activity against gram negative bacteria. The compound 9 showed a moderate activity towards the fungi. In addition, molecular docking experiments were also carried out.