Antimicrobial activity of hyperbranched polymers: Synthesis, characterization, and activity assay study

Poly(cyanurateamine) and poly(triacrylatetrimine) hyperbranched polymers were synthesized for the first time by adopting Michael addition reaction. These polymers were obtained by reacting diethylenetriamine (A(2)) with 2,4,6-triallylcyanurate (B-3) and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (B-3), respectively, at room temperature. The polymers were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared, 1H-, and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of hyperbranched polymers was studied against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus subtilis MTCC 2423, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus sp., and Acinetobacter beijerinckii. Both poly(cyanurateamine) and poly(triacrylatetrimine) show good antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria compared to gram-negative bacteria. Interestingly, poly(triacrylatetrimine) is better resistant to promising antibiotics and antiseptics bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens in comparison with poly(cyanurateamine).