Antibacterial and mutagenic activities of new isothiocyanate derivatives

Nine newly synthetized isothiocyanate derivatives were demonstrated to posses antibacterial and genotoxic activitiesin vitro. 4-Hydroxybutyl isothiocyanate exhibited a broad antibacterial effect, with MIC values of 762 μmol/L forStaphylococcus aureus andEscherichia coli. Ethyl 4-methylsulfoxidobutanoate had the highest antibacterial activity in Gram-positive bacteria, the MIC value being 425 μmol/L forS. aureus. The highest tested concentrations of ethyl 4-isothiocyanatobutanoate and 4-hydroxybutyl isothiocyanate produced a bacteriocidal effect in Gram-positive bacteria. The compounds showed no mutagenic effects onSalmonella typhimurium tester strains TA 98 and TA 100, either in the absence or in the presence of a metabolically active microsomal S9 fraction from rat liver using standard Ames test.