CARBAPENEMS AND PENEMS

In the period up to 1970 most P-lactam research was concerned with the penicillin and cephalosporin group of antibiotics (1). Since that time, however, a wide variety of new mono- and bicychc P-lactam stmctures have been described. The carbapenems, characterized by the presence of the bicychc ting systems (1, X = CH2) originated from natural sources the penem ring (1, X = S) and its derivatives are the products of the chemical synthetic approach to new antibiotics. The chemical names are 7-oxo-(R)-l-a2abicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-ene-2-carboxyhc acid [78854-41-8] CyH NO, and 7-oxo-(R)-4-thia-l-a2abicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-ene-2-carboxylic a.cid [69126-94-9], C H NO S, respectively. 

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (4th Edition) 

Subsequently, other structural variations were reported encompassing compounds such as PS-5 (5) (5), carpetimycin A (6) (6), asparenomycin A (7) (7), and pluracidomycin A (8) (8), from a wide variety of streptomycete strains. Following these stmctures the simplest member of the series, having the completely unsubstituted nucleus, (1, X = CH2), was isolated from bacterial strains of Serratia and Ervinia (9). AH other natural products reported have substituents at both the C-6 and C-2 positions of the bicycHc ring system. Differences in the nature and stereochemistry of these substituents has provided a wide variety of stmctures, and over forty variations have been reported and comprehensively Hsted (10). 

Occurrence, Fermentation, and Biosynthesis. Although a large number of Streptomjces species have been shown to produce carbapenems, only S. cattkja (2) and S. penemfaciens (11) have been reported to give thienamycin (2). Generally the antibiotics occur as a mixture of analogues or isomers and are often co-produced with penicillin N and cephamycin C. Yields are low compared to other P-lactams produced by streptomycetes, and titres are of the order of 1—20 p-g sohdusmL despite, in many cases, a great deal of effort on the optimization of the media and fermentation conditions. The rather poor stabiUty of the compounds also contributes to a low recovery in the isolation procedures. The fermentation and isolation processes for thienamycin and the olivanic acids has been reviewed in some detail (12). 

Properties. Thienamycin is isolated as a colorless, hygroscopic, zwitterionic soHd, although the majority of carbapenems have been obtained as sodium salts and, in the case of the sulfated olivanic acids, as disodium salts (12). Concentrated aqueous solutions of the carbapenems are generally unstable, particularly at low pH. AH the substituted natural products have characteristic uv absorption properties that are often used in assay procedures. The ir frequency of the P-lactam carbonyl is in the range 1760 1790 cm .  

---

ANHBIOHCS - BETA-LACTAMS - CARBAPENEMS AND PENEMS] pol 3) 1-Dehydropiperidine [28299-36-7]... 

---