Group for the synthesis and biological research of organic compounds

One of the biggest challenges of today mankind is the incidence of a bacterial antibiotic resistance, which is continually growing. The antibiotic resistance is posing a global threat not only for the health system, but also in the process of food production and safety. Therefore, in our laboratory we aim to design and synthesize the heterocyclic compounds, with a special interest in quaternary ammonium salts which display a wide biological potential and biomedical application (antidotes, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, surfactants, therapeutics etc.). The synthesized compounds are further characterized by fundamental physical-chemical methods FTIR, NMR and MS, after which antimicrobial activities on different strains of fungi and bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogen species) are determined. Antioxidative activity of compounds is assessed on healthy cell lines but also by using several in vitro methods (DPPH and ORAC). Cytotoxicity of compounds is measured on healthy and tumor cell lines by MTT method.