To find new anti-browning and whitening agents in this study, new series of isopropylquinazolinone derivatives were designed and synthesized. All derivatives were evaluated as possible tyrosinase inhibitors and compound9qbearing 4-fluorobenzyl moieties at the R position exhibited the best potencies with an IC50value of 34.67 ± 3.68 µM. The kinetic evaluations of9qas the most potent derivatives recorded mix-type inhibition. Compounds9oand9qalso exhibited potent antioxidant capacity with IC50values of 38.81 and 40.73 µM, respectively confirming their antioxidant potential. Molecular docking studies of9qas the most potent derivative were exacuated and it was shown that quinazolinone and acetamide moieties of compound9qparticipated in interaction with critical His residues of the binding site. The obtained results demonstrated that the9qcan be considered a suitable pharmacophore to develop potent tyrosinase inhibitors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13065-023-00978-3.