Biologically active polymers: VII. Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some crosslinked copolymers with quaternary ammonium and phosphonium groups

Microbial infection remains one of the most serious complications associated with the use of indwelling medical devices. Antimicrobial agents are those materials capable of killing pathogenic microorganisms. In general, they are low molecular weight compounds. However, most of these molecules are toxic to the environment and their application is short lived. If these materials attached to polymers, it would be ideal solution to overcome problems associated with low molecular weight material. Our recent studies were focused on the development of antimicrobial polymers to attain high value products. In a continuation to our effort in this field, we report here the synthesis of crosslinked copolymers based on copolymerization of vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) either with 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether (CEVE), or methylmethacrylate (MMA) using the divinylbenzene as crosslinker (DVB). The crosslinked copolymers were further modified by quaternization with triphenylphosphine and triethylamine. The antimicrobial activity of the modified copolymers was tested against various microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum and Candida albicans). In general, the copolymers showed good antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms.