A PNP ligand, PN(pyr)P ((PN(pyr)P)H = 2,5-bis((di-iso-propylphosphino)methyl)pyrrole), which employs a pyrrole unit as a central anionic nitrogen donor, was designed. The corresponding group 10 metal chlorides as well as iridium and ruthenium compounds were isolated. In order to conduct this work, [(PN(pyr)P)Tl] and [(PN(pyr)P)Ag]2 were synthesized and characterized. The thallium and silver species were paramount in the formation of the iridium and ruthenium complexes, which could not be isolated using (PN(pyr)P)H or the corresponding lithium pyrrolide salt. Interestingly, the solid state molecular structure of [(PN(pyr)P)Tl] indicates that the metal center engages in an η(2) intermolecular interaction with the backbone of a neighboring pyrrole molecule instead of the expected bonding to the phosphine arms.

No abstract

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) bacteria are a critical global health concern; New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) enzymes account for >25% of all CPE found in Switzerland. We characterized NDM-positive CPE submitted to the Swiss National Reference Center for Emerging Antibiotic Resistance during a 2-year period (January 2019–December 2020) phenotypically and by using whole-genome sequencing. Most isolates were either Klebsiella pneumoniae (59/141) or Escherichia coli (52/141), and >50% were obtained from screening swabs. Among the 108 sequenced isolates, NDM-1 was the most prevalent variant, occurring in 56 isolates, mostly K. pneumoniae (34/56); the next most prevalent was NDM-5, which occurred in 49 isolates, mostly E. coli (40/49). Fourteen isolates coproduced a second carbapenemase, predominantly an OXA-48-like enzyme, and almost one third of isolates produced a 16S rRNA methylase conferring panresistance to aminoglycosides. We identified successful plasmids and global lineages as major factors contributing to the increasing prevalence of NDMs in Switzerland.

Aminoglycosides (AGs) in combination with β-lactams play an important role in antimicrobial therapy in severe infections. Pan-resistance to clinically relevant AGs increasingly arises from the production of 16S rRNA methylases (RMTases) that are mostly encoded by plasmids in Gram-negative bacteria. The recent emergence and spread of isolates encoding RMTases is worrisome, considering that they often co-produce extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) or carbapenemases. Our study aimed to retrospectively analyze and characterize the association of carbapenem- and aminoglycoside-resistant clinical isolates in Switzerland during a 3.5-year period between January 2017 and June 2020. A total of 103 pan-aminoglycoside- and carbapenem-resistant clinical isolates were recovered at the NARA (Swiss National Reference Center for Emerging Antibiotic Resistance) during the 2017–2020 period. Carbapenemase and RMTase determinants were identified by PCR and sequencing. The characterization of plasmids bearing resistance determinants was performed by a mating-out assay followed by PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT). Clonality of the isolates was investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Over the 991 Enterobacterales collected at the NARA during this period, 103 (10.4%) of them were resistant to both carbapenems and all aminoglycosides. Among these 103 isolates, 35 isolates produced NDM-like carbapenemases, followed by OXA-48-like (n = 23), KPC-like (n = 21), or no carbapenemase (n = 13), OXA-48-like and NDM-like co-production (n = 7), and VIM-like enzymes (n = 4). The RMTases ArmA, RmtB, RmtC, RmtF, RmtG, and RmtB + RmtF were identified among 51.4%, 13.6%, 4.9%, 24.3%, 1%, and 1%, respectively. Plasmid co-localization of the carbapenemase and the RMTase encoding genes was found among ca. 20% of the isolates. A high diversity was identified in terms of the nature of associations between RMTase and carbapenemase-encoding genes, of incompatibility groups of the corresponding plasmids, and of strain genetic backgrounds, highlighting heterogeneous importations rather than clonal dissemination.

The reaction between [(PNP)NiCl] (1, PNP = 2,5-bis((di-iso-propylphosphino)-methyl)-1H-pyrrolide) and TlPF in the presence of a monodentate phosphine ligand led to cationic nickel phosphine and phosphite complexes, [(PNP)Ni(PHPh)][PF] (2), [(PNP)Ni(PMe)][PF] (3), and [(PNP)Ni{P(OMe)}][PF] (4). Compound 2 can be deprotonated resulting in the generation of a terminal phosphido complex, [(PNP)Ni(PPh)] (5). When 3 is subjected to a base, a methyl proton of PMe is abstracted to afford [(PNP)Ni(CHPMe)] (6), containing a methylene bridge between Ni and the external phosphine. Compounds 2-6 were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction in addition to multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis.