The Influence of Steric Configuration of some Nα‐Lauroyl Amino‐Acid Derivatives on their Antimicrobial Activity

The present study is an attempt to know if the steric configuration of the amino‐acid residues of both N α ‐Lauroyl‐Arginine and N α ‐Lauroyl‐Lysine methyl ester could influence their antibacterial effect. For this purpose the methyl esters of N α ‐Lauroyl‐D‐Arginine, N α ‐Lauroyl‐DL‐Arginine and N α ‐Lauroyl‐DL‐Lysine have been prepared. Their antibacterial activity has been evaluated and compared to that shown by N α ‐Lauroyl‐L‐Arginine and N α ‐Lauroyl‐L‐Lysine methyl ester derivatives. Our results show that the mechanism of action of these N α ‐Lauroyl‐amino‐acid derivatives against the bacteria cells is not influenced by the stereochemistry of the compound.