Photochemical "In-Air" Combinatorial Discovery of Antimicrobial Co-polymers.

ABSTRACT: There is an urgent need to identify new, non-traditional antimicrobials. The discovery of new polymeric antimicrobials is limited by current low-throughput synthetic tools, which means that limited chemical space has been explored. Herein, we employ photochemical "in-air" reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization with microwell plates, using liquid-handling robots to assemble large libraries of cationic polymers, without the need for degassing or purification steps, facilitating transfer to screening. Several lead polymers were identified including a co-polymer with propylene glycol side chains with significantly enhanced antimicrobial activity and increased therapeutic window. Mechanistic studies showed that this polymer was bacteriostatic, and surprisingly di

SUBMITTER: Richards SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6391955 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature