Photochemical "In-Air" Combinatorial Discovery of Antimicrobial Co-polymers

There is an urgent need to identify new, non-traditional antimicrobials. The discovery of new polymeric antimicrobials is limited by current low-throughput synthetic tools, which means that limited chemical space has been explored. Herein, we employ photochemical "in-air" reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization with microwell plates, using liquid-handling robots to assemble large libraries of cationic polymers, without the need for degassing or purification steps, facilitating transfer to screening. Several lead polymers were identified including a co-polymer with propylene glycol side chains with significantly enhanced antimicrobial activity and increased therapeutic window. Mechanistic studies showed that this polymer was bacteriostatic, and surprisingly did not lyse the cell membranes, implying an alternative mode of action. This versatile method using simple robotics will help to develop new biomaterials with emergent properties.