Searching for “Environmentally-Benign” Antifouling Biocides

Abstract

As the result of the ecological impacts from the use of tributyltins (TBT) in shipping, environmental legislation for the registration of chemicals for use in the environment has grown to a monumental challenge requiring product dossiers to include information on the environmental fate and behavior of any chemicals. Specifically, persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity, collectively known as PBT, are properties of concern in the assessment of chemicals. However, existing measurements of PBT properties are a cumbersome and expensive process, and thus not applied in the early stages of the product discovery and development. Inexpensive methods for preliminary PBT screening would minimize risks arising with the subsequent registration of products. In this article, we evaluated the PBT properties of compounds reported to possess anti-fouling properties using QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) prediction programs such as BIOWIN™ (a biodegradation probability program), KOWWIN™ (log octanol-water partition coefficient calculation program) and ECOSAR™ (Ecological Structure Activity Relationship Programme). The analyses identified some small (Mr < 400) synthetic and natural products as potential candidates for environmentally benign biocides. We aim to demonstrate that while these methods of estimation have limitations, when applied with discretion, they are powerful tools useful in the early stages of research for compound selection for further development as anti-foulants.

Antifouling potential of Nature-inspired sulfated compounds

“…Existing measurements of persistence, bioaccumulation and biodegradation are a cumbersome and expensive process, and thus not applied in the early stages of the product discovery and development. Nevertheless, in silico screening tools for the search for “environmentally-benign” antifouling biocides provide a valuable resource in early decision-making when applied with discretion 42 . Thus, log K ow (octanol-water partition coefficient) were calculated for the most promising compounds (compounds 2 , 6 , and 12 ) and compared with those calculated for some marketed AF agents and in contrast to the latter, compounds 2 , 6 , and 12 were shown to have low potential for bioaccumulation.…”

Pinturas antiincrustantes derivadas de plantas terrestres una solución segura para el ambiente en el control de la bioincrustación

“…Entre los resultados obtenidos en los artículos, se identifican bacterias (microfouling) e invertebrados (macrofouling) como organismos objetivos para la inhibición. El 24% de los resultados antiincrustantes satisfactorios se centraron en el microfouling (Xu, et al, 2005;Qian, et al, 2010;Salta, et al, 2013;Pérez, et al, 2014;Nandhini y Revathi, 2016;Moodie, et al, 2018;Agostini, et al, 2019;Nadir, et al, 2020), el 61% en el macrofouling (Takasawa, et al, 1990;Etoh, et al, 2002;Stupak, et al, 2003;Goransson, et al, 2004;Angarano, et al, 2007;Pérez, et al, 2007;Feng, et al, 2009;Zhou, et al, 2009;Qian, et al, 2010;Bellotti, et al, 2014;Cui, et al, 2014;Huang, et al, 2014;Pérez, et al, 2014;Bogdan, et al, 2018;Feng, et al, 2018;Clasen y Kesel, 2019), y el 14% en ambas comunidades. En el Anexo 2 se presenta la lista de organismos inhibidos por la acción de extractos, compuestos o moléculas derivadas de plantas terrestres.…”

One Step Forward towards the Development of Eco-Friendly Antifouling Coatings: Immobilization of a Sulfated Marine-Inspired Compound

“…A large variety of microorganisms and sessile marine organisms, such as sponges, corals, and algae, usually free of fouling on their surfaces, has been described to produce secondary metabolites to fight this natural process [ 21 ], as is the case of zosteric acid (ZA), a sulfated phenolic acid produced by the seagrass Zostera marina [ 22 , 23 ]. Inspired by the ZA structure, AF properties of a small library of synthetic sulfated small molecules were studied and gallic acid persulfate (GAP) was found to be one of the most promising compounds [ 24 ].…”