Ingalsbe Michelle L, Denis Jeffrey D St, McGahan Megan E, Steiner Walter W, Priefer Ronny
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, Niagara University, Niagara University, NY 14109, USA.
Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2009 Sep 1;19(17):4984-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2009.07.066. Epub 2009 Jul 17.
Due to the increasing number of strains of drug-resistant bacteria, the development of new antibiotics has become increasingly important. The antibacterial properties of quaternary amines and their derivatives on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria are well known. However, an encompassing study with specific emphasis on the role of the counter-anion has not been reported in the literature. By monitoring the Zone of Inhibition of various concentrations of tetrabutylammonium (TBA) salts, we observed that the counter anion plays a significant role in activity. We developed a novel method of reporting activity using zone of inhibition tests (ZI(MAX)/K(ZI)) and found it to be strongly correlated with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
