Cephalosporins 4-substituted carboxyl

Because the integrity of the dihydrothiazine ring and its C-4 carboxyl substituent is crucial to useful antimicrobial activity, reactions involving this part of the cephalosporin molecule are usually undesirable. The possibilities for sulfur oxidation or alkylation, substitution at C-2 which is adjacent to both sulfur and a double bond, double bond isomerization and addition reactions, and the influence of a free carboxylic acid must all be considered in designing reactions to selectively modify other cephalosporin functionalities. 

The beta-lactam antibiotics are commonly used because of their safety, efficacy, relatively low cost and the variety of dosage forms available. Both penicillins and cephalosporins have a four-membered beta-lactam ring that is responsible for the instability of these compounds. The penicillins are also relatively insoluble they are prepared as various salts by the substitution of the hydroxyl group or the hydrogen of the carboxyl group with sodium, potassium, benzathine or procaine. 

The concept, also called distal hydrolysis or the double prodrug concept, is illustrated by the use of 2-acyloxymethylbenzoic acids as amine protective functions, providing amides with the lability of esters (Figure 36.18a) and by the use of substituted vinyl esters [= (2-oxo-l,3-dioxol-yl)methyl esters] as lipophilic cascade carriers for carboxylic acid-containing drugs such as ampicillin or a-methyldopa or various cephalosporins (Figure 36.18b). 

The reactivity of ketenimines such as 146 is related to substituent R. Ketenimines were isolable when R was phenyl or alkyl. In contrast, ketenimines wherein R was halogen, thienyl, phenylthio, methylthio, or methylsulfonyl were sufficiently reactive to afford iminoethers (147) at -78°C in the presence of excess lithium methoxide. The trimethyl-chlorosilane-quinoline procedure satisfactorily converted all these substituted iminoethers to amides in good yields. The overall sequence proved amenable for use with cephalosporin acids, by prior protection of the carboxyl group as a silyl ester. Extension of this method to the penicillin series permitted the preparation of 6a-methoxyketenimine 149 and 6a-methoxyimino ether 150 from the corresponding methyl 6p-(2-chlorophenyl)acetamido and fi -dichloroacetamidopenicillanates, respectively. No further transformations of these substances were reported. 

SEMISYNTHETIC CEPHALOSPORINS. III. SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURE ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS OF NOVEL ORALLY ACTIVE 7-[4-HYDROXY-3-(SUBSTITUTED METHYL)PHENYL]-ACETAMIDO-3-CEPHEM-4-CARBOXYLIC ACIDS... 

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