Chemical Insights into Antibacterial N-Halamines

Abstract

Microbial contamination arising from pathogens poses serious threats to human health and in recent decades has presented an unprecedented challenge to antibacterial research. Of the various antibacterial agents that effectively kill pathogens, halogen-based antibacterial compounds have been successful in eliminating harmful pathogen-associated diseases and are becoming the most popular disinfectants. As a significant subcategory of halogen antibacterial agents, N-halamines have drawn increasing research interest into their chemistry and practical applications. N-Halamines have many advantages over other antibacterial agents, including effectiveness against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, long-term physicochemical stability, high structural durability, and the regenerability of their functional groups, with corresponding renewal of their antibacterial properties. This review examines recent progress and research trends in both theoretical and experimental studies of N-halamines, with the aim of providing a systematic and comprehensive survey and assessment of the significant advances in our understanding of antibacterial N-halamines. This review serves as a practical guide to developing N-halamines through both broad and in-depth basic research and offers suggestions for their potential future applications.

Antibacterial films with enhanced physical properties based on poly (vinyl alcohol) and halogen aminated‐graphene oxide

“…N‐halamine compounds demonstrate unique properties such as high efficacy against a variety of microorganisms, nontoxicity, environmental friendliness, durability, and regenerability. The antibacterial mechanism of N‐halamine compounds may be divided into three kinds: contact killing, release killing, and transfer killing . Most importantly, in terms of release killing, the NH bond in N‐halamine precursor can be transformed into antibacterial NCl or NBr bond upon halogenating.…”

Synthesis of Multi‐Functionalized N–Cl Hydantoin Polyurethane for Chemical Warfare Agent Decomposition with High N–Cl Stability

“…Polyurethane, polyamide, and polyester have been adopted in order to introduce N‐halide groups, which can be used as a strong oxidant for biocidal and catalytic applications . In general, the hydantoin moiety, the heterocyclic nitrogen compound, can be easily decorated by halogen compounds compared to N‐H groups in urethane chain that have less reactivity for N‐Cl conversion in given condition . Moreover, the electron‐donating methyl groups on hydantoin can help to stabilize N‐Cl form .…”

“…Especially, electrospun non‐woven mat from highly substituted HD‐TPU followed by N‐chlorination shows significantly low decomposition rate with large error per experimental set. It is well known that the N‐halamine group was hydrolyzed under humid condition, and therefore, the degradation rate of N‐halamine on electrospun fiber will be much faster compared to that of NIPS membrane because of their higher surface area . Considering the obvious advantages of the fiber‐based structures over other types because these can be directly adopted in fabric industry to make, for example, army cloth with detoxification function, the N‐halamine groups with much enhanced stability need to be developed.…”

Designing Melittin‐Graphene Hybrid Complexes for Enhanced Antibacterial Activity

“…The development of powerful antimicrobials or drugs is therefore desperately needed . Considerable efforts have been made in developing new antibacterial agents, with chemicals such as N ‐halamine, guanidine, betaine, as well as quaternary ammonium compounds, chitosan derivatives, and synergistic systems . Beyond these, the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which widely exist in the natural world, promise a fundamental solution to the issue .…”