To study the antifungal effect of chalcone derivatives. Methods Sixteenchalcone derivatives were synthesized and confirmed by ~1H NMR and IR spectra, and tested forantifungal activity against four common pathogenic fungi. Their structure-activity relationship isdiscussed. Results Among 16 title compounds, there were 5 new compounds, which have not beenreported before. The preliminary antifungal test showed that all title compounds exhibitedantifungal activities to a certain extent. The activity of compound 8 against Trichophyton rubrumhad a potency equal to that of fluconazole, with a MIC of 4 μg·mL^(-1) . Conclusion Sixteenchalcones were prepared and their antifungal activities against four common pathogenic fungi invitro were examined. Some of them exhibited antifungal activities to a certain extent.