Silver Acylpyrazolonato Complexes for Antimicrobial Applications

Microbial contamination of polymeric materials plays a relevant role in the transmission of infectious diseases, hence the development of antimicrobial plastics is attracting a growing interest for potential applications in many technological fields. In searching for efficient antimicrobial additives for plastic materials, novel Ag(I) complexes with diverse structural features and coordination environment have been prepared by using variously substituted acylpyrazolones and also imidazoles or phosphines as ancillary ligands. The nuclearity of the silver complexes and the saturation on silver affects their antimicrobial activity against both Gram+ and Grambacterial strains. The Ag(I) complexes can be efficiently embedded in polyethylene affording powerful composite plastics with long term antibacterial activity.