Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major public health threats at the global level, urging the search for new antimicrobial molecules. The fluorene nucleus is a component of different bioactive compounds, exhibiting diverse pharmacological actions. The present work describes the synthesis, chemical structure elucidation, and bioactivity of new O-aryl-carbamoyl-oxymino-fluorene derivatives and the contribution of iron oxide nanoparticles to enhance the desired biological activity. The antimicrobial activity assessed against three bacterial and fungal strains, in suspension and biofilm growth state, using a quantitative assay, revealed that the nature of substituents on the aryl moiety are determinant for both the spectrum and intensity of the inhibitory effect. The electron-withdrawing inductive effect of chlorine atoms enhanced the activity against planktonic and adhered Staphylococcus aureus, while the +I effect of the methyl group enhanced the anti-fungal activity against Candida albicans strain. The magnetite nanoparticles have substantially improved the antimicrobial activity of the new compounds against planktonic microorganisms. The obtained compounds, as well as the magnetic core@shell nanostructures loaded with these compounds have a promising potential for the development of novel antimicrobial strategies.
Keywords: 9-fluorenone; 9H-fluoren-9-one oxime; O-aryl-carbamoyl-oxymino-fluorene derivatives; antibiofilm; antimicrobial; iron oxide nanoparticles.