Antimicrobial Handgels

The fight against antimicrobial resistance needs new weapons. Bacteria resistant to all known antibiotics are anticipated to cause 10 million deaths by 2050. A series of novel Supramolecular Self-Associating Amphiphiles have been synthesised to add to the arsenal; either as unique antimicrobial agents or to act as drug delivery agents. The self-association properties of these compounds were studied in the gas phase, solid state and solution state using a range of physicochemical studies. These experiments included: electron spray ionisation mass spectrometry, single crystal X-ray diffraction, quantitative 1H NMR, diffusion ordered spectroscopy, tensiometry, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential. One of the novel compounds was observed to form hydrogels in aqueous salt solutions, and these gels were characterised using rheological methods.