AbstractBACKGROUNDPlant diseases infected by pathogenic fungi have a devastating effect on global agricultural and food industry yields. The development of novel, environmentally friendly, and efficient fungicides is an important technique for preventing and combatting phytopathogenic fungi.RESULTSHerein, 99 thiochroman‐based derivatives containing hydroxyl, sulfoxide, sulfone, carbonyl, double bond, amino, imine, oxime, oxime ester, and amide moieties were synthesized. The antifungal activities of the target compounds against ten typical phytopathogenic fungi were also investigated. The bioassay results illustrated that most of the target compounds exhibited moderate to excellent antifungal effects against the tested fungi in vitro. Among these, thiochroman‐oxime derivatives (12a–12m) exerted a promising inhibition effect, especially against Fusarium solani, Fusarium graminearum, Valsa mali, and Botrytis cinerea strains. Furthermore, the compounds 12f and 12g markedly suppressed the spore germination germ and tube growth. At the same time, they exerted excellent protective effects against potatoes infected by F. solani, making them superior to commercial fungicides Hymexazol and Chlorothalonil. Notably, the compounds 12d and 12f also showed excellent protective effects against cherry tomatoes infected by B. cinerea. Further mechanistic studies revealed that compound 12f exerted an antifungal effect by overtly altering the mycelium structure and remarkably increasing cell membrane permeability. Fortunately, the excellent bioactive compounds showed good safety against human hepatic cell lines (WRL‐68). The preliminary structure–activity relationship analysis revealed that the introduction of hydroxyl or oxime fragments at the thiopyran ring might be significantly beneficial to antifungal activity.CONCLUSIONThis study provides thiochroman compounds that can be used in the development of novel botanical fungicides for the management of phytopathogenic fungi. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
