Combination of isothiocyanates and antibiotics increases susceptibility against Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Serratia marcescens.

BACKGROUND: The development and spread of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) is evolving rapidly worldwide. Although effective antibiotics are still available, some infections are difficult to treat. Among MDROs, S. marcescens and A. baumannii are among the difficult-to-treat pathogens causing for instance sepsis and urinary tract infections (UTI). Isothiocyanates (ITC) are natural plant products. The antimicrobial properties of ITC appear to be more effective in combination with some antibiotics. PURPOSE: We investigated a mixture of ITC from nature-identical plant extracts of nasturtium and horseradish in different combined concentrations with broad-spectrum antibiotics against S. marcescens, A. baumannii, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis. METHODS: First, we investigated the antibacterial activity of the compounds by standard agar disc diffusion test. Next, we evaluated the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) via broth dilution tests. Checkerboard technique was used to assess antimicrobial effects against sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, ampicillin-sulbactam, nitrofurantoin, Fosfomycin, ciprofloxacin and imipenem combined with various concentrations of ITC. RESULTS: S. marcescens strains 1-3 showed reversal of resistance at >0.075 µg/mL ITC in combination with nitrofurantoin, whereas 0.05 µg/mL ITC increased antimicrobial susceptibility. Combination of fosfomycin with 0.003 µg/mL ITC resulted in increased efficacy against resistant S. marcescens strains, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis. Remarkable additive antimicrobial activity was observed at 0.03 µg/mL and 0.06 µg/mL ITC in combination with 0.125 µg/mL imipenem (FIC > 0.5). CONCLUSION: The combination of ITC and antibiotics is a promising approach for the treatment of UTI caused by MDRO. The ITC combination with selected antibiotics had synergistic and additive effects.

Synthesis, Characterization and Energetic Performance of Oxalyl Diazide, Carbamoyl Azide, and N,N'-Bis(azidocarbonyl)hydrazine.

As pure compounds, small carbonyl azides enjoy a bad reputation, due to the high explosive sensitivity and instability they demonstrate. Consequently, most reported examples have only been poorly characterized. The compounds oxalyl diazide (1), carbamoyl azide (2), as well as N,N'-bis(azidocarbonyl)hydrazine (3) were obtained by performing a diazotation reaction on the corresponding hydrazo precursor. Carbamoyl azide (2) could also be obtained from oxalyl diazide via Curtius rearrangement to the reactive isocyanate, followed by reaction with water. Further, different trapping reactions of the isocyanate with hydroxyl (methanol, oxetan-3-ol) and amino (2-amino-5H-tetrazole) functions are described. All products were extensively analyzed using IR, EA, DTA and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, and the crystal structures elucidated using single crystal X-ray diffraction. In addition, the sensitivities toward friction and impact were determined and the energetic performances of the carbonyl azides were calculated using the EXPLO5 code.

Isomers of Dinitropyrazoles: Synthesis, Comparison and Tuning of their Physicochemical Properties.

Three isomeric dinitropyrazoles (DNPs) were synthesized starting from readily available 1H-pyrazole by slightly improved methods than described in the literature. 3,4-Dinitropyrazole (3), 1,3-dinitropyrazole (4), and 3,5-dinitropyrazole (5) were obtained and compared to each other with respect to thermal stability, crystallography, sensitivity and energetic performance. Two isomers (3 and 4) show high densities (1.79 and 1.76 g cm-3 ) and interesting thermal behavior as melt-castable materials (3: Tmelt. =71 °C, Tdec. =285 °C; 5: Tmelt. = 68 °C, Tdec. =171 °C). Furthermore, eight salts (sodium, potassium, ammonium, hydrazinium, hydroxylammonium, guanidinium, aminoguanidinium and 3,6,7-triamino-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b][1,2,4]triazole (TATOT) of 3 and 5 were synthesized in order to tune performance and sensitivity values. These compounds were characterized using 1 H, 13 C, 14 N, 15 N NMR and IR spectroscopy as well as mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and thermal analysis through differential scanning calorimetry. Crystal structures of 14 compounds were obtained (3-7, 10-12 and 15-20) by low-temperature single crystal X-ray diffraction. Impact, friction and electrostatic discharge (ESD) values were also determined by standard methods. The sensitivity values range between 8.5 and 40 J for impact and 240 N and 360 N for friction and show mainly insensitive character. The energetic performances were determined using recalculated X-ray densities, heats of formation and the EXPLO5 code and support the energetic character of the title compounds. The calculated energetic performances (VD : 6245-8610 m s-1 ; pCJ : 14.1-30.8 GPa) were compared to RDX ((O2 NNCH2 )3 ).