Design, synthesis and antifungal activities of novel triazole derivatives with selenium-containing hydrophobic side chains

•A series of selenium-containing azoles were designed based on the structure of lanosterol 14α-demethylase.•All tested compounds were found to be more potent against all tested fungal strains than control drug fluconazole.•Representative compounds exhibited dose-dependent inhibitory activity on Candida albicans CYP51.•The potential compounds showed low cytotoxicity toward mammalian cell lines.