With antibiotic resistance becoming an increasing problem in society, it is vital for chemists to search for novel antibacterial agents to combat this growing issue. α-Pyrones have been a known class of antibiotic natural products since 1983 that have been studied previously, and have been shown to be viable candidates for new research into other natural product α-Pyrones, including pseudopyronine A. α-Pyrone analogs of Pseudopyronine A, a natural product isolated from Pseudomonas species of bacteria, are being synthesized and evaluated for improved antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Synthetic analogs are accessed through either the commercially available acyl chlorides or β-ketoesters, which will produce the α-pyrone in 5 or 3 steps respectively. The α-pyrones will then be further derivatized through several processes including thiol substitution, methylation, alkylation, amidation, or halogenation reactions. All derivatives will then be evaluated for antibacterial activity in a growth inhibition assay against a panel of both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria.
