Abstract
The AgCl, AgOAc, AuCl, and AuOAc complexes of the new bis(imino)acenaphthene(BIAN)-supported
N
-heterocyclic carbene ligand and the precursor imidazolium salt have been investigated with respect to their antimicrobial activities against
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Bacillus subtilis
,
Escherichia coli
and
Psudomonas aeruginosa
. The most active antimicrobial is the precursor imidazolium salt, which has a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of <40 μg/mL. The MIC values for the silver complexes IPr(BIAN)AgCl and IPr(BIAN)AgOAc against Gram-positive
S. aureus
are comparable to that for AgNO
3
, while those against Gram-negative
E. coli
and
P. aeroginosa
are significantly larger. Similar behavior was evident for the gold acetate complex IPr(BIAN)AuOAc. However, in the case of the gold chloride analogue, the MIC values are virtually identical for both the Gram-positive and the Gram-negative bacteria.