Synthesis, antibacterial activities and phospholipid membrane interactions of novel dialkyl 2,2’-disulfanediyldibenzoates

A series of dialkyl 2,2’-disulfanediyldibenzoates with alkyl chain length C8 to C12 were synthesized and characterized by spectral studies. The structure of compound 3 was also confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The compounds were found to possess good antibacterial activity, especially with respect to Gram positive bacteria, and the activity was found to increase with concomitant increase in chain length. Binding studies of compound 3 with the synthetic phospholipid 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) showed that the compound interacts with biological membrane mainly via hydrophobic interactions