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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Synthesis of Masarimycin, a Small Molecule Inhibitor of Gram-Positive Bacterial Growth
Published on: January 7, 2022
Small-molecule suppression of β-lactam resistance in multidrug-resistant gram-negative pathogens
Christopher M Brackett1, Roberta J Melander, Il Hwan An
1Department of Chemistry and ‡Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
Abstract:
Recent efforts toward combating antibiotic resistance in bacteria have focused on Gram-positive bacteria; however, multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria pose a significant risk to public health. An orthogonal approach to the development of new antibiotics is to develop adjuvant compounds that enhance the susceptibility of drug-resistant strains of bacteria to currently approved antibiotics. This paper describes the synthesis and biological activity of a library of aryl amide 2-aminoimidazoles based on a lead structure from an initial screen. A small molecule was identified from this library that is capable of lowering the minimum inhibitory concentration of β-lactam antibiotics by up to 64-fold.
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