Nontoxic Membrane‐Active Antimicrobial Arylamide Oligomers

Cracking the case: Aryl amide oligomers with amphiphilic secondary structure were designed that attack bacteria by lysing their membranes. A variety of groups were appended to the lead compound to adjust its overall charge, hydrophobicity, and hydrophobic moment. An Arg-containing oligomer (see figure) was found to have good antimicrobial activity and low toxicity towards human erythrocytes.