Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 28, 2025

Anti-virulent Disruption of Pathogenic Biofilms using Engineered Quorum-quenching Lactonases
Published on: January 1, 2016
Antibacterial quaternary ammonium agents: Chemical diversity and biological mechanism
Wenjia Dan1, Jixiang Gao1, Xiaohui Qi1
1School of Life Science and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Shandong, China.
Abstract:
Bacterial infections have seriously threatened public health especially with the increasing resistance and the cliff-like decline of the number of newly approved antibacterial agents. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) possess potent medicinal properties with 95 successfully marketed drugs, which also have a long history as antibacterial agents. In this review, we summarize the chemical diversity of antibacterial QACs, divided into chain-like and aromatic ring, reported over the past decade (2012 to mid-2022). Additionally, the structure-activity relationships, mainly covering hydrophobicity, charges and skeleton features, are discussed. In the cases where sufficient information is available, antibacterial mechanisms including biofilm, cell membrane, and intracellular targets are presented. It is hoped that this review will provide sufficient information for medicinal chemists to discover the new generation of antibacterial agents based on QACs.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Chemical Agents for Microbial Control
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Antimicrobial Effectiveness
Biological Methods for Microbial Control
Nomenclature of Secondary and Tertiary Amines
Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism
Such synergistic combinations...

