Novel pentafluorosulfanyl-containing triclocarban analogs selectively kill Gram-positive bacteria

Novel antimicrobial agents are needed to combat antimicrobial resistance. This study tested novel pentafluorosulfanyl-containing triclocarban analogs for their potential antibacterial efficacy. Standard procedures were used to produce pentafluorosulfanyl-containing triclocarban analogs. Twenty new compounds were tested against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative indicator strains as well as 10 clinical isolates for their antibacterial and antibiofilm activity. Mechanistic investigations focused on damage to cell membrane, oxidizing reduced thiols, iron-sulfur clusters, and oxidative stress to explain the compounds' activity. Safety profiles were assessed using cytotoxicity experiments in eukaryotic cell lines. Following screening, selected components had significantly better antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against Gram-positive bacteria in lower concentrations in comparison to ciprofloxacin and gentamycin. For instance, one compound had a minimum inhibitory concentration of