Benzyl alcohol is an antimicrobial preservative that had been widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. It has, however, been linked to the neonatal deaths of infants. We have synthesized five derivatives of benzyl alcohol: 1-phenylethanol, 1-phenylpropanol, benzyl acetate, benzyl ethylether and benzyl methylether; and tested their antimicrobial properties using the Kirby-Bauer test and S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. Preliminary results show that 1-phenylethanol has improved antimicrobial action compared to the parent compound.  This leads us to the hypothesis that further alkyl substitution on the benzylic carbon will exhibit greater activity.  To this end we will synthesize 1-methyl-1-phenylethanol.  We also found that some derivatives without the alcohol functionality still displayed antimicrobial activity, and we plan to synthesize 2-phenylethanol to determine if the functional group must be on the benzylic position.

Benzene derivatives and their antibiotic functions

241st National Meeting (2011)

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