The natural product dihydroferulic acid (DFA, 1) and the synthesized DFA methyl (4a), ethyl (4b), propyl (4c), hexyl (4d), octyl (4e), and decyl (4f) esters were examined for antifungal activity. Test fungi included Saccharomyces cerevisiae (wild type, and deletion mutants slt2 and bck1), Aspergillus fumigatus, and A. flavus. Growth inhibition of S. cerevisiae treated with 5 mM DFA or the corresponding esters was 4a, 4b, and 4c >98%; 4d 18.8%; 1 6.4%; 4e 6.2%; and 4f 2.8%, relative to the control. The 50% minimum inhibitory concentrations for the more active propyl, methyl, and ethyl esters were 1.5, 2.1, and 4.0 mM, respectively. Compound 4c inhibited 100% growth of both aspergilli at 6.4 mM.
