New Substituted Benzoylthiourea Derivatives: From Design to Antimicrobial Applications

The increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance to all currently available therapeutic agents has urged the development of novel antimicrobials. In this context, a series of new benzoylthiourea derivatives substituted with one or more fluorine atoms and with the trifluoromethyl group have been tested, synthesized, and characterized by IR, NMR, CHNS and crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecular docking has provided information regarding the binding affinity and the orientation of the new compounds to Escherichia coli DNA gyrase B. The docking score predicted the antimicrobial activity of the studied compounds, especially against E. coli, which was further demonstrated experimentally against planktonic and biofilm embedded bacterial and fungal cells. The compounds bearing one fluorine atom on the phenyl ring have shown the best antibacterial effect, while those with three fluorine atoms exhibited the most intensive antifungal activity. All tested compounds exhibited antibiofilm activity, correlated with the trifluoromethyl substituent, most favorable in para position.

A potent larvicidal agent against Aedes aegypti mosquito from cardanol

Cardanol is a constituent of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid that presents larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti. The isolation of cardanol is somewhat troublesome, however, in this work we describe an efficient and inexpensive method to obtain it as a pure material. The compound was used as starting material to make chemical transformation leading to saturated cardanol, epoxides and, halohydrins. These derivatives were tested for toxicity against Aedes aegypti larvae. The results showed that iodohydrins are very promising compounds for making commercial products to combat the vector mosquito larvae presenting a LC50 of 0.0023 ppm after 72 h of exposure.

Optimized anti-pathogenic agents based on core/shell nanostructures and 2-((4-ethylphenoxy)ethyl)-N-(substituted-phenylcarbamothioyl)-benzamides

The purpose of this study was to design a new nanosystem for catheter surface functionalization with an improved resistance to Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 colonization and subsequent biofilm development. New 2-((4 ethylphenoxy)methyl)-N-(substituted-phenylcarbamothioyl)-benzamides were synthesized and used for coating a core/shell nanostructure. Their chemical structures were elucidated by NMR, IR and elemental analysis, being in agreement with the proposed ones. Fe(3)O(4)/C(12 )of up to 5 nm size had been synthesized with lauric acid as a coating agent and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TGA, TEM and biological assays. The catheter pieces were coated with the fabricated nanofluid in magnetic field. The microbial adherence ability was investigated in 6 multiwell plates by using culture based methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The nanoparticles coated with the obtained compounds 1a-c inhibited the adherence and biofilm development ability of the S. aureus and P. aeruginosa tested strains on the catheter functionalized surface, as shown by the reduction of viable cell counts and SEM examination of the biofilm architecture. Using the novel core/shell/adsorption-shell to inhibit the microbial adherence could be of a great interest for the biomedical field, opening new directions for the design of film-coated surfaces with improved anti-biofilm properties.