(Aminophosphane)gold(I) and silver(I) complexes as antibacterial agents

Abstract

This manuscript describes the synthesis of new Au(I) and Ag(I) complexes with aminophosphane ligands and a study of their antibacterial activity against Gram-negative Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. The bactericidal assays revealed the effectiveness of these compounds on paradigm Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens, showing a moderate antimicrobial activity, comparable with the antibiotics of reference, for all gold(I) complexes and the silver(I) complexes without coordinated PPh3 groups. For those complexes that were found to show inhibitory activity, serial dilutions in liquid broth method were performed for determination of MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration).

Keywords: Aminophosphine ligands; Antibacterial activity; Gold(I); Gram-negative; Gram-positive; Silver(I).