Antimicrobial activity of some alkyltrimethylammonium bromides |
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Authors: | P Gilbert A Al-taae |
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Institution: | Department of Pharmacy, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester |
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Abstract: | n-Alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (CnTAB) have been synthesized with n-alkyl chain lengths of between C5 and C22. Antimicrobial activity was assessed as growth inhibitory activity (MIC) towards seven representative strains of micro-organisms and as bacterial activity towards Staphylococcus aureus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . These data indicated that whilst the level of activity was generally parabolically related to n-alkyl chain length, separate dependencies existed for short (n < 10) and long (n > 10) chain substituents, with disproportionately large increases in activity, in the order of three log cycles, occurring as substituent chain lengths increased from n = 10 to n = 12. This is interpreted in terms of distinct mechanisms of action, binding site and/or physicochemical properties for extreme members of the series. |
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