Antimicrobial activities of polymeric quaternary ammonium salts from poly(glycidyl methacrylate)s

Abstract

Amino poly(glycerol methacrylate)s (PGOHMAs) were synthesized from linear and 8‐arm poly(glycidyl methacrylate)s (PGMAs) via ring opening reactions with methylethylamine (MEA), diethylamine, and dipropylamine, respectively, which were further modified by quaternization reaction using methyl iodide to obtain quaternized PGMAs (QPGMAs for short). The products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, gel permeation chromatography, and thermogravimetric analysis. The amination percentage of amino PGOHMAs and the degree of quaternization of QPGMAs were calculated by elemental analysis and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. According to the solubility test results, 8‐arm PGOHMA modified with MEA (S8‐MEA) is the only water‐soluble derivative of amino PGOHMAs and was employed as a positive control for the comparison with QPGMAs. Antimicrobial studies on these PGMA derivatives were carried out by testing the minimum inhibitory concentration and the bacteria inhibitive rate against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that QPGMAs possessed higher antimicrobial activity than S8‐MEA and exhibited increased antimicrobial activity against both bacteria with an increased degree of quaternization in weak basic conditions. Moreover, the chemical structure of PGMA derivatives and pH value of the assay conditions were found to affect the antimicrobial activity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.