Development of novel pyrazole-1,2,4-triazole derivatives as tyrosinase inhibitors: Design, preparation, mechanism of action and anti-browning application.

Tyrosinase (Polyphenol oxidase), a key enzyme in enzymatic browning, is an attractive target for developing new anti-browning agents in the food industry. In this work, twenty pyrazole-1,2,4-triazole derivatives (3a-3n, 4a-4f) were synthesized and tested in vitro, most of compounds showed potent anti-tyrosinase activity. Of these, 3c (IC50 = 1.02 ± 0.08 μM) was found to be 14 folds stronger than kojic acid (IC50 = 14.74 ± 1.23 μM) and behaved as a mixed type inhibitor. Besides, the disappeared peak of dopaquinone in the HPLC assay intuitively validated the inhibitory effect of 3c. Copper ions chelating, fluorescence quenching and molecular docking assays showed that coordination with copper is the key to play a role. Furthermore, 3c exhibited excellent anti-browning ability for the Rosa roxburghii Tratt, the non-enzymatic browning experiment showed that 3c could prevent browning in non-enzymatic ways. It is suggested that these derivatives could serve as the leading compounds to find more efficient anti-browning agents in the future.