The widespread use of antibiotics causes the accumulation of a large amount of antibiotics in the environment. Excessively active antibiotics in the environment results in the emergence of bacterial resistance. Building smart antibiotics capable of reversible regulation between active and inactive states on demand is a promising approach to address this issue. Herein, a ferrocene-containing quaternary ammonium compound has been developed for electrochemical redox-controlled bacterial inhibition. The reversible switch of the reduced and oxidized ferrocene groups between hydrophobic and hydrophilic states triggers the assembly and disassembly of the micelles while modulating the interactions of antibiotic molecules with the bacteria membrane, providing a new way to regulate antibacterial activity. In addition, the alternate use of reduced and oxidized antibiotics exhibits a favorable effect in preventing bacterial resistance. Thus, an unconventional strategy is offered to prevent the build-up of active bactericide in the environment and decrease bacterial resistance.

抗生素的广泛使用导致环境中大量抗生素的积累。环境中活性过度的抗生素会导致细菌耐药性的出现。建立能够根据需要在活跃状态和非活跃状态之间进行可逆调节的智能抗生素，是解决该问题的一种有前途的方法。在本文中，已经开发了含二茂铁的季铵化合物用于电化学氧化还原控制的细菌抑制。还原的和氧化的二茂铁基团在疏水和亲水状态之间的可逆转换触发了胶束的组装和拆卸，同时调节了抗生素分子与细菌膜的相互作用，从而提供了一种调节抗菌活性的新方法。此外，还原和氧化抗生素的交替使用在预防细菌耐药方面显示出良好的效果。因此，提供了一种非常规的策略来防止环境中活性杀菌剂的积累并降低细菌的抵抗力。