Influence of metallocene substitution on the antibacterial activity of multivalent peptide conjugates

Peptide dendrimers and derivatisation of peptides with metallocenes showed promising results in the search for new antibacterial agents. The two concepts are combined in this work leading to multivalent, metallocene-containing peptide derivates. These new peptides were synthesised utilising microwave assisted, copper(I) catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC, "click" chemistry). Twelve new peptide conjugates, containing either a ferrocenoyl group or a ruthenocenoyl group on so-called ultrashort (i.e. < 5 amino acids) peptides, and ranging from monovalent to trivalent conjugates, were synthesised and their antibacterial activity was investigated by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays on five different bacterial strains. The antibacterial activity was compared to the same peptide conjugates without metallocenes. The resulting MIC values showed a significant enhancement of the antibacterial activity of these peptide conjugates against Gram-positive bacteria by the metallocenoyl groups. Additionally, the compounds with two metallocenoyl groups presented the best antibacterial activities overall.