Design, synthesis and biological activity of novel demethylvancomycin dimers against vancomycin-resistant enterococcus faecalis

The emergence of resistance to vancomycin and other glycopeptide antibiotics is a serious concern in clinical practice and has prompted intensive efforts to develop analogues that may overcome the resistance. One of major strategies to enhancing anti-vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) activity emerged in recent years was connecting two vancomycin molecules by covalent linkers. Herein, we reported the design and synthesis of three different covalently linked demethylvancomycin dimers 7a-c by applying click chemistry. Interestingly, these dimers restored their activities against VRE. Furthermore, the interactions of molecules with peptidoglycan were also investigated via computer modelling. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.