Antimicrobial protonated polydiallylamines: how to retain bactericidal efficiency at minimal toxicity

A family of antimicrobial protonated diallylammonium polymers has been synthesized by classical and RAFT polymerization in a wide range of molecular weights (MWs) of about (8--118) × 10<sup>3</sup> g mol<sup>−1</sup>. Based on the study on toxicity relative to eukaryotic cells (epithelioid line of human lung carcinoma and line of green monkey kidney) and bactericidal activity of polymers (relative to <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>, <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> and <em>M. smegmatis</em>), we distinguish two groups of polymers promising as disinfectant and for medical applications. These are polymers with a sufficiently large MW (more than 50 × 10<sup>3</sup> g mol<sup>−1</sup>) and samples with a low MW (18 × 10<sup>3</sup> g mol<sup>−1</sup> and lower); their biocidal activity is an order of magnitude higher or slightly higher (selectivity about 1.16) than their cytotoxicity.