A novel series of benzotriazole derivatives were synthesized and characterized by NMR, IR and MS spectra. The bioactive assay manifested that most of the new compounds exhibited moderate to good antibacterial and antifungal activities against the tested strains in comparison to reference drugs chloromycin, norfloxacin and fluconazole. Especially, 2,4-dichlorophenyl substituted benzotriazole derivative 6f displayed good antibacterial activity against MRSA with MIC value of 4 μg/mL, which was 2-fold more potent than Chloromycin, and it also displayed 3-fold stronger antifungal activity (MIC = 4 μg/mL) than fluconazole (MIC = 16 μg/mL) against Beer yeast. The preliminary interactive investigations of compound 6f with calf thymus DNA revealed that compound 6f could effectively intercalate into DNA to form compound 6f–DNA complex which might block DNA replication to exert antimicrobial activities. Molecular docking experiments suggested that compound 6f projected into base-pairs of DNA hexamer duplex forming two hydrogen bonds with guanine of DNA. The theoretical calculations were in accordance with the experimental results.

•Synthesis and valuable antimicrobial potency of α-triazolyl chalcones.•Some prepared compounds were highly sensitive to MRSA.•Intercalation of 9a into DNA revealed to be responsible for antimicrobial activity.•α-Triazolyl chalcone 9a could be effectively stored and carried by HSA.•Some metal ions were found to increase the concentration of free compound 9a.A series of α-triazolyl chalcones were efficiently synthesized. Most of the prepared compounds showed effective antibacterial and antifungal activities. Noticeably, α-triazolyl derivative 9a exhibited low MIC value of 4 μg/mL against MRSA and Micrococcus luteus, which was comparable or even superior to reference drugs. The further research revealed that compound 9a could effectively intercalate into Calf Thymus DNA to form 9a–DNA complex which might block DNA replication to exert their powerful antimicrobial activities. Competitive interactions between 9a and metal ions to Human Serum Albumin (HSA) suggested the participation of Fe3+, K+ and Mg2+ ions in 9a–HSA system could increase the concentration of free 9a, shorten its storage time and half-life in the blood, thus improving its antimicrobial efficacy.A series of α-triazolyl chalcones were synthesized and screened for their antimicrobial activities, further binding behavior with calf thymus DNA and human serum albumin was investigated.

A series of novel hybrids of metronidazole and berberine as new type of antimicrobial agents were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR, MS and HRMS spectra. Bioactive assay manifested that most of the prepared compounds exhibited effective antibacterial and antifungal activities and some showed comparable or superior potency against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to reference drugs Norfloxacin, Chloromycin and Berberine. The transportation behavior of human serum albumin (HSA) to the highly active compound 5g was evaluated and revealed that the association of imidazole derivative 5g with HSA was spontaneous and the electrostatic interactions played important roles in the transportation of HSA to 5g. The calculated parameters indicated that compound 5g could be effectively stored and carried by HSA.

A series of novel berberine triazoles were synthesized and characterized by IR, NMR, MS and HRMS spectra. All target compounds and their precursors were screened for antimicrobial activities in vitro against four Gram-positive bacteria, four Gram-negative bacteria and two fungal strains. Bioactive assay indicated that most of the prepared compounds exhibited good antibacterial and antifungal activities with low MIC values ranging from 2 to 64 μg/mL, which were comparable to or even better than the reference drugs Berberine, Chloromycin, Norfloxacin and Fluconazole. The competitive interactions between compound 5a and metal ions to Human Serum Albumin (HSA) revealed that the participation of Mg2+ and Fe3+ ions in compound 5a–HSA association could result in the concentration increase of free compound 5a, shorten the storage time and half-life of compound 5a in the blood, thus improving its antimicrobial efficacy.

A series of berberine azoles was synthesized and characterized by NMR, IR, MS and HRMS spectroscopy. All the newly prepared compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activities. Bioactivity assays manifested that most of the berberine azoles exhibited good antimicrobial activities. Especially compound 7a displayed remarkable anti-Proteus vulgaris and anti-Candida mycoderma efficacies, which were comparable to or even better than for the reference drugs. The binding behavior of compound 7a to human serum albumin (HSA) revealed that hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds play important roles in the association of compound 7a with HSA. Molecular docking experiments showed that compound 7a has moderate affinity to HSA, and the theoretical calculations were in accordance with the experimental results.