Design of multifunctionalized piperazine polymer and its activity toward pathogenic microorganisms

The study intends to design a simple and powerful synthesis of piperazine-methacrylate monomer and its homopolymer. The synthesized piperazine-methacrylate monomer was polymerized by solution polymerization technique in the presence of free-radical initiator azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) resulting in the formation of multifunctionalized piperazine polymer. The structural investigation was done by FTIR and NMR ( ¹ H and ¹³ C NMR). The thermal properties and degradation of the polymer were examined by DSC and TGA techniques. The polymer exhibited glass transition temperature (T _g ) at 88.4 °C. The polymer surface was found to be soft and nonporous which was examined by FESEM. The synthesized polymeric compound exhibited good antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, tubercular variant Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with a zone of inhibition at a range of 15.60–19.33, 15.33–17, and 15.67–18 mm diameter, respectively. The polymer also showed good activity against fungus Candida albicans with a zone of inhibition at a range of 16.33–22 mm diameter. The percentage inhibition of microorganisms increased with increase in concentration (1.5–12 mg) which is carried out by optical density method.