This review focuses on the antimicrobial carbon dots prepared by commercially available small molecule antimicrobial drugs, introduces their preparation, biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity, covers 5 types of drug derived carbon dots such as aminoglycosides, and discusses the advantages, mechanisms, problems and prospects.

The massive consumption of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance, which is a major concern in the global health crisis. Therefore, the development of non-antibiotic antibacterial drugs occurs simultaneously with the development of antibiotics. Nanomaterial applications in antibacterial research are currently expanding. Carbon dots, termed as CDs, are a novel class of nanomaterials that have garnered a lot of interest. Antibacterial CD has many outstanding characteristics, such as high biocompatibility, easy surface modification, excellent optical properties, an extensive precursor source, and a small particle size (1–10 nm). Although there are many potential sources of CDs, many researchers find it challenging to screen precursors for the purpose of preparing CD with remarkable antibacterial abilities. It is often recommended to generate CDs directly from antibacterial agents since the process usually maintains the part qualities of its precursors during preparation. In this article, CDs prepared by marketed small molecule antibacterial drugs were selected as our topic. Their characteristics of preparation, biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity were discussed. This review summarizes the antibacterial CDs prepared from aminoglycosides, β-lactams, quinolones, antituberculosis drugs, and nitroimidazole antibacterial drugs as precursors. Then the advantages and mechanisms of CDs, the existing problems and future possibilities of antibacterial CDs were also explored.