[About the antimicrobial activity of substituted aromatic aldehydes and alcohols (author's transl)].

In the scope of our research about the antimicrobial activity of serveral chemicals a number of substituted benzaldehydes and benzylalcohols was investigated under standardized conditions following the method of DGHM (German Society of Hygiene and Microbiology) against bacteria, dermatophytes and moulds. The germicidal activity, demonstrated by the suspension test, is generally low except under special conditions (low or high pH-value). The germistatic activity, demonstrated by the MIC-test, is much higher than the germicidal effect (figs. 1--4). The relation structure-germistatic activity is discussed.