Itaconimides as Novel Quorum Sensing Inhibitors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is known as an opportunistic pathogen that often causes persistent infections associated with high level of antibiotic-resistance and biofilms formation. Chemical interference with bacterial cell-to-cell communication, termed quorum sensing (QS), has been recognized as an attractive approach to control infections and address the drug resistance problems currently observed worldwide. Instead of imposing direct selective pressure on bacterial growth, the right bioactive compounds can preferentially block QS-based communication and attenuate cascades of bacterial gene expression and production of virulence factors, thus leading to reduced pathogenicity. Herein, we report on the potential of itaconimides as quorum sensing inhibitors (QSI) of P. aeruginosa. An initial hit was discovered in a screening program of an in-house compound collection, and subsequent structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies provided analogs that could reduce expression of central QS-regulated virulence factors (elastase, rhamnolipid, and pyocyanin), and also successfully lead to the eradication of P. aeruginosa biofilms in combination with tobramycin. Further studies on the cytotoxicity of compounds using murine macrophages indicated no toxicity at common working concentrations, thereby pointing to the potential of these small molecules as promising entities for antimicrobial drug development.

Enantioselective Oxidation of Alkenes with Potassium Permanganate Catalyzed by Chiral Dicationic Bisguanidinium.

Chiral anion-controlled ion-pairing catalysis was demonstrated to be a wide-ranging strategy that can utilize a variety of cationic metal species. In a similar manner, we envision a complementary strategy using chiral cation in partnership with inorganic anionic metal salts. Herein, we report a chiral dicationic bisguanidinium-catalyzed asymmetric oxidation reaction of alkenes with potassium permanganate. Chiral induction is attributed to ion-pairing interaction between chiral cation and enolate anion. The success of the current permanganate oxidation reaction together with mechanistic insights should provide inspiration for expansion to other anionic metal salts and would open up new paradigms for asymmetric transition metal catalysis, phase-transfer catalysis, and ion-pairing catalysis.