New antibacterial-core structures based on styryl quinolinium

Quaternary quinolinium salts have been widely used as alternative antimicrobial agents. In an effort to improve the current quinolinium compounds and determine the relation between antibacterial activity and substituted functional groups, 10 different styryl quinolinium derivatives with various quaternary ammonium electron acceptors, electron donors, and counter anions were rationally designed. Among the 10 styryl quinoliniums, six compounds exhibited bactericidal effects against Gram-positive bacteria, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 2.4-37.5 μg/mL. In addition, two compounds, namely DA-DMQ1,4-T and DA-DMQ1,4-TMS, showed low MICs of 18.75-75 μg/mL with Gram-negative bacteria. In general, compounds possessing electron acceptor groups with a strong electron-withdrawing ability exhibited high bactericidal activity against diverse bacterial species. Co-administration of quinolinium (1.17-9.36 μg/mL) and broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotic ampicillin (0.02-2.34 μg/mL) showed synergistic bactericidal effects on both Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacteria. This study provides guidelines for the development of new quinolinium salts with a prominent antimicrobial activity.