Amino acid–based surfactants: New antimicrobial agents

• Cationic amino acid-based surfactants are excellent candidates to be used as antimicrobial compounds.
• These surfactants act via perturbation of bacterial membrane. This hampers the development of bacteria resistance.
• The hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of the molecule and the cationic charge density affect the antimicrobial activity.

The rapid increase of drug resistant bacteria makes necessary the development of new antimicrobial agents. Synthetic amino acid-based surfactants constitute a promising alternative to conventional antimicrobial compounds given that they can be prepared from renewable raw materials. In this review, we discuss the structural features that promote antimicrobial activity of amino acid-based surfactants. Monocatenary, dicatenary and gemini surfactants that contain different amino acids on the polar head and show activity against bacteria are revised. The synthesis and basic physico-chemical properties have also been included.

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