Synthesis, characterization, thermal stability and antibacterial activity of coumarin based methacrylate copolymers

Monomer of 7-methacryloyloxy-4-methylcoumarin (MAOMC) was synthesized and characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. Copolymers of MAOMC with butoxyethylmethacrylate (BOEMA) at different feed compositions were prepared by free radical solution polymerization at (70 ± 1) °C in ethylmethylketone (EMK) using benzyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator. The copolymers were characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the copolymers showed moderate thermal stability and higher Tg values. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to find out the molecular weights of the different copolymers. Antibacterial activities of the copolymers were also investigated against the selected pathogenic bacteria’s. The antibacterial activity of the copolymer increases as the MAOMC content increases in the copolymer. This shows that coumarin moiety plays a very important role in the antibacterial activity.