Antibacterial potential of citral derivatives.

Nine conjugated acid derivatives from monoterpene citral have been synthesized using ester, amide condensations, Wittig, Knoevenagel, Baylis-Hillman reactions and their antimicrobial activities were evaluated through disc diffusion and serial dilution methods. Several derivatives displayed interesting antimicrobial activity. Particularly, the Baylis-Hillman adducts 8-10 were found to have more potent antibacterial and antifungal activities than standard drugs namely chloramphenicol and nystatin respectively.