Radiation synthesis and characterization of maleic anhydride/acrylic acid copolymers and their heterocyclic compound derivatives for possible uses as antibacterial agents

Preparation and characterization of water-soluble maleic anhydride/acrylic acid (MAn/AAc) copolymer and its derivatives were studied for possible use as antibacterial agents. Preparation conditions that affect the copolymer yield, molecular weight and polymeric chain distribution were studied. As the irradiation dose increases, the copolymer yield, as well as molecular weight increases. The higher the MAn content in the comonomer feed solution, the lower the copolymer yield. The derivatives of MAn/AAc copolymers of different functional groups were obtained by treating MAn/AAc copolymer with various organic reagents containing reactive amino groups, such as sulpha-drug compounds and amino acid derivatives. Characterization of obtained copolymers using FTIR, H-1 NMR, viscometric, and elemental analysis, was carried out. The antibacterial activity of different molecular weight copolymers and their derivatives against gram negative and gram positive bacteria was investigated. The results obtained revealed that such copolymers and the water-soluble derivatives possessed a broad lethal activity against different types of bacteria and could be used as antibacterial agents.