Synthesis, antimicrobial and docking study of three novel 2,4,5-triarylimidazole derivatives

A novel series of 2-[5-(4-substituted phenyl)furan-2-yl]-4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazole derivatives (2a-c) were synthesized and characterized using IR, 1H NMR and GC-MS spectra. These compounds were in vitro screened against several bacterial species as well as Candida albicans, the common fungi species and found exhibiting moderate to potent activity. Docking of synthesized compounds against glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase, the target enzyme for the antimicrobial agents, was achieved to explore and explain the interactions of the discovered hits within the amino acid residues of the enzyme binding pocket. The docking results enhanced the activity of new derivatives as promising antimicrobial agents.