2002 Volume 51 Issue 4 Pages 251-254
α-Methylene-γ-alkylbutyrolactones were synthesized by usual method and assessed for antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Using substituent constants (π) of the compounds, regression analysis was made on the effect of alkyl side chains of the methylenelactones. The correlation coefficient (r) between observed and calculated minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) expressed in molar concentration as log(1/C) was 0.739 and 0.725 for B. subtilis and for E. coli, respectively. On using steric parameter of E’s, r was up to 0.894 and 0.884 for B. subtilis and E. coli, respectively. Consideration of π derived from the smallest MIC, α-methylene-γ-nonalactone 6 or α-methylene-γ-decanolactone 7 suggested the strongest antibacterial activity.
