Eichler, Barrett

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Davis 

• Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison 

• B.A., Chemistry, University of Minnesota-Morris

Infectious diseases are one of the top five health challenges facing humanity. Within the category of infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance is an increasingly threatening problem globally. Novel antimicrobial compounds are always needed to kill bacteria and yeast on surfaces and in solutions. Some antimicrobial compounds, such as cetypyridium chloride and benzalkonium chloride, have been used for over 100 years. These antiseptic compounds are known as quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC). QACs work by disrupting the cell membrane of bacteria and yeast.

In 2023, we began to make QACs using click chemistry. We previously published a synthetic method to efficiently synthesize symmetric diarylacetylenes, and this method, when combined with click chemistry, will be used to make antimicrobial compounds with a 1,2,3-triazole and 1,2,3,4-tetrazole moieties. We will convert these into QACs with benzyl bromide derivatives. These compounds will be tested using assays to determine their antibiotic properties versus gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and yeast.