Penicillin amide

A functional derivative of penicillin amide is the nitrile (71) [104], the activity of which is even lower. 

Nevertheless, it was necessary to give three equations with different constants for penicillins with an a-amino or a-ether group in the side-chain, or with an ortho aromatic ether group (methicillin analogues). It was suggested that the mechanism involves hydrophobic binding and /3-lactam antibiotics are able to bind to serum when ionic sites for this are not available, e.g. the case of penicillin amides, cephalosporin lactones (Table 8.9) and certain 2-substituted cephalosporins (Table 8.7), when the increased lipophilicity leads to increased serum binding. 

APA may be either obtained directly from special Penicillium strains or by hydrolysis of penicillin Q with the aid of amidase enzymes. A major problem in the synthesis of different amides from 6-APA is the acid- and base-sensitivity of its -lactam ring which is usually very unstable outside of the pH range from 3 to 6. One synthesis of ampidllin applies the condensation of 6-APA with a mixed anhydride of N-protected phenylglydne. Catalytic hydrogenation removes the N-protecting group. Yields are low (2 30%) (without scheme). 

All of the naturally-occurring monobactams discovered as of this writing have exhibited poor antibacterial activity. However, as in the case of the penicillins and cephalosporins, alteration of the C-3 amide side chain led to many potent new compounds (12). Furthermore, the monobactam nucleus provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of stmctural modifications at the N-1 and C-4 positions of the a2etidinone ring on biological activity. In contrast to the bicycHc P-lactams, these positions on the monocyclic ring system are readily accessible by synthesis. 

Spectral Characteristics. The iafrared stretching frequency of the penicillin P-lactam carbonyl group normally occurs at relatively high frequencies (1770 1815 cm ) as compared to the absorptions for the secondary amide (1504-1695 cm ) and ester (1720-1780 cm ) carbonyl groups. 

As many natural and synthetic /3-lactams bear 3-acylamino substituents, the corresponding free amines or protected forms thereof are versatile synthetic intermediates. They may be prepared in several ways, for example by deacylation of the 7-amido group in naturally occurring penicillins by enzymic or chemical means. Chemical degradation usually involves conversion of the amide to a chloroimidate followed by cleavage with aqueous alcohols (75S547 p. 560, 78T1731 p. 1753). 

Chemical Cleavage of Penicillin Side Chain Amides... 

The role of IR spectroscopy in the early penicillin structure studies has been described (B-49MI51103) and the results of more recent work have been summarized (B-72MI51101). The most noteworthy aspect of a penicillin IR spectrum is the stretching frequency of the /3-lactam carbonyl, which comes at approximately 1780 cm" This is in contrast to a linear tertiary amide which absorbs at approximately 1650 cm and a /3-lactam which is not fused to another ring (e.g. benzyldethiopenicillin), which absorbs at approximately 1740 cm (the exact absorption frequency will, of course, depend upon the specific compound and technique of spectrum determination). The /3-lactam carbonyl absorptions of penicillin sulfoxides and sulfones occur at approximately 1805 and 1810 cm respectively. The high absorption frequency of the penicillin /3-lactam carbonyl is interpreted in terms of the increased double bond character of that bond as a consequence of decreased amide resonance, as discussed in the X-ray crystallographic section. Other aspects of the penicillin IR spectrum, e.g. the side chain amide absorptions at approximately 1680 and 1510 cm and the carboxylate absorption at approximately 1610 cm are as expected. 

This amide, readily formed from an amine and the anhydride, is readily cleaved by penicillin acylase (pH 8.1, A -methylpyrrolidone, 65-95% yield). This depro-tection procedure works on peptides as well as on nonpeptide substrates. 

This amide, readily formed from an amine and the anhydride or enzymatically using penicillin amidase, is readily cleaved by penicillin acylase (pH 8.1, A -methylpyrrolidone, 65-95% yield). This deprotection procedure works on peptides, phosphorylated peptides, and oligonucleotides, as well as on nonpeptide substrates. The deprotection of racemic phenylacetamides with penicillin acylase can result in enantiomer enrichment of the cleaved amine and the remaining amide. An immobilized form of penicillin G acylase has been developed. ... 

Amides are generally poor candidates for nucleophilic attack, but penicillin is apparently an exception, and reacts with bacterial enzymes as shown below. 

Examine the structure of penicillin model (R=H), a model for the active compounds. What, if anything, distinguishes it from a typical amide (N,N-dimethylacetamide, for example) What is responsible for the differences Compare electrostatic potential maps for penicilhn model and dimethylacetamide. Which compound is more likely to undergo nucleophilic attack Explain. 

Acylation of 7-ACA with 2-thienylacetylchloride gives the amide cephalothin (43). Displacement of the allylic acetyl group by pyridine affords the corresponding pyridinium salt cephalori-dine (44). Both these compounds constitute useful injectable antibiotics with some activity against bacteria resistant to penicillin by reason of penicillinase production. 

There is only one clinically significant penicillin at present that does not have an amide side chain. Mecill inam... 

As can be seen in Figure 6.12, penicillin G contains two amide functionalities, of which the (Madam linkage is extremely susceptible to basic and nucleophilic attack. Therefore, deavage of the phenylacetyl side chain could not be performed using classical base hydrolysis. The problem of selectivity was resolved by taking advantage of the fad that the amide bond to be hydrolysed is secondary rather than tertiary. 

Rgure 6.12 Penicillin G contains two amide linkages (circled in a). The amide linkage to the side chain is secondary and exists in two forms (shown in b). 

Figure 6.14 Enzymatic side chain cleavage of penicillins. 6-Aminopenicillanic acid, a valuable intermediate for the production of various semi-synthetic penicillins, can be obtained through enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of the phenylacety group of penicillin G or the phenoxyacetyl group of penicillin V. The active site of the enzyme recognises the aromatic side chain and the amide linkage, rather than the penidllin nucleus. Chemical entitles other than penicillins are therefore often good substrates, as long as they contain the aromatic acetamide moiety.

P-Lactamases are enzymes that hydrolyze the P-lactam ring of P-lactamantibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins, monobactams and carbapenems). They are the most common cause of P-lactam resistance. Most enzymes use a serine residue in the active site that attacks the P-lactam-amid carbonyl group. The covalently formed acylester is then hydrolyzed to reactivate the P-lacta-mase and liberates the inactivated antibiotic. Metallo P-lactamases use Zn(II) bound water for hydrolysis of the P-lactam bond. P-Lactamases constitute a heterogeneous group of enzymes with differences in molecular structures, in substrate preferences and in the genetic localizations of the encoding gene (Table 1). 

Penicillin G acylase (PGA, EC 3.5.1.11, penicillin G amidase) catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phenylacetyl side chain of penicillin to give 6-aminopenicillanic acid. PGA accepts only phenylacetyl and structurally similar groups (phenoxyacetyl, 4-pyridylacetyl) in the acyl moiety of the substrates, whereas a wide range of structures are tolerated in the amine part [100]. A representative selection of amide substrates, which have been hydrolyzed in a highly selective fashion, is depicted in Figure 6.36. 

Figure 6.36 Examples of amides resolved by penicillin C acylase-catalyzed hydrolysis (the fast-reacting enantiomer is shown).

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