Treating bacterial biofilms with conventional antibiotics is limited due to ineffectiveness of the drugs and higher propensity to develop bacterial resistance. Development of new classes of antibacterial therapeutics with alternative mechanisms of action has become imperative. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, and biological evaluations of novel membrane-active small molecules featuring two positive charges, four nonpeptidic amide groups, and variable hydrophobic/hydrophilic (amphiphilic) character. The biocides synthesized via a facile methodology not only displayed good antibacterial activity against wild-type bacteria but also showed high activity against various drug-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), and β-lactam-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Further, these biocides not only inhibited the formation of biofilms but also disrupted the established S. aureus and E. coli biofilms. The membrane-active biocides hindered the propensity to develop bacterial resistance. Moreover, the biocides showed negligible toxicity against mammalian cells and thus bear potential to be used as therapeutic agents.

This study provides an insight into the micellar aggregation properties in aqueous solutions of various gemini surfactants bearing one or more amide groups at the side chains and/or in the spacer by conductivity and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies. The amide functionality was found to enhance the surfactant aggregation properties as compared to the surfactants having no amide bond. Furthermore, the aggregation properties of the gemini surfactants bearing amide groups were found to strongly depend on the position and number of amide bonds. With the increase in the number of amide bonds, the aggregation number (N) and the size of the micelles increased. Additionally, the size and shape of the micelles were also found to depend both on the hydrocarbon chain length and the spacer chain length. It was also found that the aggregation number and the size of the micelles increased with an increase in concentration and decreased with an increase in temperature. The critical micellar concentration (CMC) values of the gemini surfactants obtained by a conductometric method were found to vary greatly with variation in the hydrocarbon chain.