Synthesis and Antibacterial Activities of New Quaternary Ammonium Monomers

New monomers and polymers with amine and quaternary ammonium groups on the side chain were synthesized. The first series of monomers were the derivatives of 3-(acryloyloxy)-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (AHM). Hydroxylated secondary and tertiary amine derivatives were prepared by reaction of AHM with various amines. One of the amine monomers was quaternized with bromohexane to give a quaternary ammonium monomer. A second series of amine and quaternary ammonium monomers were based on acrylamide and methacrylamide derivatives. New acrylamide/methacrylamide monomers with tertiary amine groups were synthesized and quaternized with various alkyl halides. All monomers were homo-polymerized and co-polymerized with 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA). The synthesized monomers and polymers were tested for antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria. Amine monomers, their homo-polymers and co-polymers did not show any antibacterial activities. It was also found that the antibacterial activity of the quaternized methacrylamide-3-(aminomethyl) pyridine (METH-PYR) monomers increased as the alkyl chain length on nitrogen increased