Biologically active polycations, 4. Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of poly(trialkylvinylbenzylammonium chloride)s

Abstract

Various poly(trialkyl‐3‐(and 4‐)vinylbenzylammonium chloride)s were prepared and their antibacterial activities were assessed by the conventional spread plate method and the viable counting method. They are in general more active against Gram‐positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus than against Gram‐negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Aerobacter aerogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Compounds with the longest alkyl chain studied (dodecyl) were found to exhibit particularly high activity, and this was ascribed to the contribution of the increased hydrophobicity of the compounds to the activity. The most significant finding was that the polymers was discussed and interpreted in terms of their greater contribution to each elementary process in the cidal action: their favored adsorption onto the bacterial cell surface and the cytoplasmic membrane with subsequent disruption of its integrity.