Nitrofuranes

ANTIBACTERIALAGENTSSYNTTiETIC - NITROFURANS] (Vol2) 3-[(5-Nitro-2-furanyl)methyleneamino]-2-oxazolidinone... 

Alkylfurans, halofurans, alkoxyfurans, furfuryl ester and ethers, and furfural diacetate [613-75-2] behave similarly. Furans containing electron withdrawing constituents, for example, furfural, 2-furoic acid, and nitrofurans, fail as dienes even with very strong dienophiles. 

Chemically synthesized antimicrobials used in animal and poultry feeds include arsenicals, eg, arsanilic acid [98-50-0] sodium arsanilate [127-85-5] and roxarsone [121-19-7]-, sulfa dmgs, eg, sulfadimethoxine [122-11-2], sulfamethazine [57-68-1], and sulfathiazole [72-14-0]-, carbadox [6804-07-5]-, and nitrofurans, eg, furazoHdone [67 5-8] and nitrofurazone [59-87-0] (see Antibacterial agents, synthetic Antiparasitic agents). 

The nitrofurans encompass a class of synthetic antibacterials characterized by the 5-nitro-2-furanyl group ... 

The antimicrobial activity of this class of compounds was first reported ia 1943 (1) and this finding was described iadependendy four years later (2). After iavestigation of several derivatives, it was concluded that the 5-nitro function was responsible for the observed antimicrobial activity (3). These preliminary findings focused attention on this area of research and as a result, several thousand nitrofurans have been prepared, and thousands of articles have been prepared, and thousands of articles have been pubUshed describiag the extensive efforts ia these areas. 

Although in vitro mutagenicity tests suggest that some nitrofurans in general provoke a positive response, use of in vivo mammalian systems has produced equivocal or negative results. 

These three nitrofurans have been used therapeutically for over 30 years with no reports of human neoplasia and the relevance of the animal findings to short term therapy in humans has not been estabUshed. 

Most commerciali2ed nitrofurans are derived from 5-nitro-2-furancarboxaldehyde [698-63-5] or the corresponding diacetate. 

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