Antimicrobial activity of p-hydroxyphenyl acrylate derivatives

To estimate the antimicrobial effect of p-hydroxyphenyl acrylate (H5) derivatives on the basis of their molecular structure, the hydroxy and acryl groups of p-hydroxyphenyl acrylate were modified. The antimicrobial activity of the resulting compounds was assessed against a Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus), a Gram-negative bacterium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and fungi (Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium pinphilum) by the halo zone and the shake flask test. The antimicrobial activity of H5 was ascribed mainly to the acryl group. Compounds with acryl or acryloxy groups bound to the phenyl moiety were found to exhibit particularly high antimicrobial activities. The activities of phenyl acrylate and phenyl vinyl ketone were excellent as compared to aliphatic acrylates such as cyclohexyl acrylate and hexyl acrylate, indicating that the stereoelectronic effect of the phenyl group was important to the antimicrobial activity.