Pharmacological Activity of Meso-ionic Compounds

The wide range of structural variation presented by meso-ionic heterocycles of type A and type B is such that some members have attracted the attention of medicinal chemists. Many different biological activities have been claimed, particularly in the patent literature. The authors of this review are not competent to provide a critical appraisal of the biological activities that have been attributed to meso-ionic compounds. These are therefore only briefly recorded in the following summary, and the original papers or patents should be consulted for details. 

For reasons given in the Introduction, the chemistry of sydnones and sydnone imines is not discussed in the chemistry section of the review. Examination of their pharmacological activity is, however, given in this section. 

The possibility that meso-ionic compounds might have potential value as biologically active substances has t en emphasized particularly in an excellent review by Kier and Roche. Kier has also put forward stimulating proposes concerning possible general applications of MO theory to drug research.  

The following activities have been claimed for sydnone derivatives (26) antibacterial, antitumor, antifungal, anti- 

Molecular Orbital Theory in Drug Research. Academic Press, New York, 1971. 

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D. Molecular Orbital Calculations. Pharmacological Activity of Meso-ionic Compounds Meso-ionic— Definition and Delineation... 

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