A Study of Fluorinated β-Nitrostyrenes as Antimicrobial Agents

The effect of variously fluorine-substituted β-methyl-β-nitrostyrenes on their antimicrobial activity was investigated. Their efficacy was determined by minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) in cultures of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and a fungus. Highest activity against the Gram negative bacterium, E.coli, was achieved with 4-fluorine-aryl substituted β-methyl-β-nitrostyrenes, while most compounds gave excellent results against gram positive bacteria. Importantly, the addition of the β-methyl group profoundly enhanced the antibacterial activity of the compounds tested. The comparative KD values for the most potent compounds against E.coli were much lower than those required for the gram positive and fungus counterparts. This investigation illustrated that fluorine substituted nitropropenylarenes have enhanced antimicrobial activity suitable for antibiotic applications.