Acidity Controlling Antisepsis by Weak Acids

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Abstract
The antiseptic efficiency at different acidities was measured with acetic, propionic, butyric, chloracetic and bromo propionic acids. It increased with the acidity, and it could be shown that with any one of these antiseptics, the conc. which inhibited the growth of a yeast culture represented at all acidities the same amt. of undissociated acid, though the amt. of total acid varied greatly. It was possible to compute with fair accuracy the dissociation constants from the inhibiting doses at different pH. Two compounds were found to be equally efficient in the dissociated and undissociated state, namely hydrozoic acid (Na azide) and aniline. The azide ion inhibits multiplication by a mechanism different from that acting in the case of undissociated acid.

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