Antibacterial and antifungal activity of acyclic and macrocyclic uracil derivatives with quaternized nitrogen atoms in spacers.

The reactions of 1,3-bis(alpha,omega-bromoalkyl)-6-methyluracils with 1,3-bis(alpha,omega-ethylaminoalkyl)-6-methyluracils or 1,3-bis(bromopentyl)thymine with butylamine afforded pyrimidinophanes containing one or two uracil units and nitrogen atoms in bridging polymethylene chains. In some cases individual geometric isomers of pyrimidinophanes differing in the mutual arrangement of the carbonyl and methyl groups at different pyrimidine rings were isolated. Quaternization of the bridging nitrogen atom with o-nitrobenzyl bromide, benzyl bromide, n-decyl bromide gave rise to water-soluble pyrimidinophanes which were evaluated for their antibacterial and antifungal activity.