Antifungal Activity of Ag(I) and Zn(II) Complexes of Sulfacetamide Derivatives

Reaction of sulfacetamide with arylsulfonyl isocyanates afforded a series of derivatives which were used as ligands (as conjugate bases) for the preparation of metal complexes containing Ag(I) and Zn(II). The newly synthesized complexes, unlike the free ligands, act as effective antifungal agents against Aspergillus and Candida spp., some of them showing activities comparable to ketoconazole, with minimum inhibitory concentrations in the range of 0.3 – 0.5 μg/mL. The mechanism of antifungal action of these complexes seems to be not connected with the inhibition of lanosterol-14-α-demethylase, since the levels of sterols assessed in the fungi cultures were equal in the absence or in the presence of the tested compounds. Probably the new complexes act as inhibitors of phosphomannose isomerase, a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of yeast cell walls.