Patent ID: 7001924

Claim:
A method of killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria, said method comprising contacting bacteria or a site susceptible to bacterial growth with a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and an effective amount of a compound of the formula I: Y—(NR′) k —U 1 —(NR″)—A—(NR 1 ) m —U 2 —(NR 2 ) n —Z I or a derivative, salt, racemic mixture, mixture of E/Z isomers, or mixture of diastereomers thereof; wherein U 1 and U 2 are independently carbonyl, thiocarbonyl, or sulfonyl; k, l, m, and n are independently 0 or 1; A is a linker of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 atoms that is optionally substituted with a group selected from alkyl, heteroalkyl, alkene, heteroalkene, alkyne, heteroalkyne, aryl, alkaryl, and heteroaryl; R′, R″, R 1 , and R 2 are independently H, alkyl, heteroalkyl, alkene, heteroalkene, alkyne, heteroalkyne, aryl, or heteroaryl; Y is selected from the group consisting of formulas II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X; and Z is selected from the group consisting of substituted phenyl and formulas II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI: wherein each R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 7 , R 8 , or R 9 is independently H, alkyl, aralkyl, heteroalkyl, alkene, heteroalkene, alkyne, heteroalkyne, aryl, or heteroaryl; and each R 6 is H, or alkyl; wherein said substituted phenyl group comprises hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, sulfhydryl, alkylthio, arylthio, halogen, fluoroalkyl, carboxyl, carboxyalkyl, amino, aminoalkyl, monosubstituted amino, disubstituted amino, quaternary amino, nitro, alkyl, heteroalkyl, alkene, heteroalkene, alkyne, heteroalkyne, aryl, or heteroaryl; provided that when A is propylene or substituted phenylene, k and n are both 1, and l and m are both 0, Z and Y are not both formula II.