Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem for public health and associated with increasing economic costs and mortality rates. Silver and silver‐related compounds have been used for centuries due to their antimicrobial properties. In this work, we show that 1,3‐dibenzyl‐4,5‐diphenyl‐imidazol‐2‐ylidene silver(I) acetate/NHC*‐Ag‐OAc (SBC3) is a reversible, high affinity inhibitor of E. coli thioredoxin reductase (TrxR; Ki=10.8±1.2 nM). Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) tests with different E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains demonstrated that SBC3 can efficiently inhibit bacterial cell growth, especially in combination with established antibiotics like gentamicin. Our results show that SBC3 is a promising antibiotic drug candidate targeting bacterial TrxR.

This article reports the unexpected reactions of Cu and Ag NHC bromides with potassium thio- or seleno­cyanates. It contains the first report of the boomerang-shaped [Ag(SCN)3]2− ion.