Antibacterial activity of some unsymmetrical diorganyltellurium(IV) dichlorides.

Six unsymmetrical diorganyltellurium(IV) dichlorides RR'TeCl2 (where R= phenacyl-, 1-naphthacyl-, and styrylacyl- and R' = p-methoxyphenyl, p-hydroxyphenyl-, and 3-methyl-4-hydoxyphenyl-) were tested for their antibacterial activity against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Salmonella sp.) bacteria. Antibacterial activity was measured by disk diffusion method. Inhibition zones demonstrated that all the compounds showed good activity against gram-negative strains. Phenacyl (3-methyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) tellurium(IV) dichloride and naphthacyl (3-methyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) tellurium(IV) dichloride showed significant activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative strains. Among the tested compounds, the former exhibited maximum activity against gram-positive bacteria, while the latter against all the bacteria under study and styrylacyl (p-methoxyphenyl) tellurium(IV) dichloride against all the three gram-negative bacteria.