Abstract

N-vinylpyrrolidone - Dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (NVP-DMAEMA) is a copolymer containing an
antimicrobial monomer hence exhibits antimicrobial property. NVP-vinyl benzyl chloride (NVP-VBC) is another
copolymer with chloride functional group which makes it antimicrobial. Quaternization of these will enhance
the antimicrobial property. The copolymers NVP-DMAEMA and NVP-VBC are synthesized by free radical
mechanism. The obtained copolymers are quaternized with suitable reagents. Copolymers and quaternized salts
are characterized by Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance. The antimicrobial property
of these compounds is investigated by agar well diffusion method. Two Gram-positive bacterial strains used are
Bacillus pumilus – 1640 and Staphylococcus aureus – 3160, two Gram-negative bacterial strains are Escherichia
coli – 45 and Enterobacter aerogenes – 2822. The fungal strains used are Fusarium oxysporum – 2087, Aspergillus
niger – 4325, and Penicillium sp. All compounds are showing better inhibition zones.