Antimicrobial activity and FTIR characterization of lapachol derivatives against Staphylococcus aureus

Lapachol is a natural naphthoquinone with important activity due to its chemical and structural properties. Nine semisynthetic derivatives of this substance were tested against strains of Staphylococcus spp. to identify the antimicrobial activity of these compounds. Only β-lapachone and oxime of lapachol showed good activity against the strains studied. The minimum bactericidal concentration values ranged from 62.5 to 15.62 μg/mL. The antimicrobial activity of these substances may be related to functional groups characteristics by technique Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. There is great antimicrobial potential mainly related to β-lapachone and to oxime of lapachol, instigating further studies on the mechanisms of action. Key words: β-Lapachone, lapachol oxime, spectroscopic analyses.