Synthesis and characterization of some novel antimicrobial thiosemicarbazone O-carboxymethyl chitosan derivatives

Three novel thiosemicarbazone O-carboxymethyl chitosan derivatives were obtained via a condensation reaction of thiosemicarbazide O-carboxymethyl chitosan with o-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-methoxybenzaldehyde, and p- chlorobenzaldehyde respectively. Their structures were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, 13C NMR and X-ray diffraction. The antimicrobial behaviors of the prepared derivatives against three types of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, RCMBA 2004), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis, RCMBA 6005), and Escherichia coli (E. Coli, RCMBA 5003) and three crops-threatening pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus, RCMBA 06002), Geotrichum candidum (G. candidum, RCMB 05098), and Candida albicans (C. albicans, RCMB 05035) were investigated. The results indicated that the antibacterial and antifungal activities of the investigated derivatives are much higher than those of the parent O-carboxymethyl chitosan. They were more potent in case of Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria. The presence of electron withdrawing chlorine atom on the aryl moiety of the aldehyde portion improved greatly antimicrobial activity to be nearly equivalent to the used standard drugs.