Tetracyclines chemical structures

Ribosomal Protein Synthesis Inhibitors. Figure 3 The chemical structure of tetracycline and possible interactions with 16S rRNA in the primary binding site. Arrows with numbers indicate distances (in A) between functional groups. There are no interactions obseived between the upper portion of the molecule and 16S rRNA consistent with data that these positions can be modified without affecting inhibitory action (from Brodersen et al. [4] with copynght permission). 

Fig. 1 Chemical structures of some of the most important antibiotics used nowadays divided into the most representative families fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides, penicillins, macrolides, and tetracyclines. Another important antibiotic, chloramphenicol, is also shown...

Figure 1.16. Chemical structure of the antibiotic tetracycline. Other members of the tetracycline family (see also Table 1.18) also display this characteristic 4-ring structure...

Although all tetracyclines have a similar mechanism of action, they have different chemical structures and are produced by different species of Streptomyces. In addition, structural analogues of these compounds have been synthesized to improve pharmacokinetic properties and antimicrobial activity. While several biological processes in the bacterial cells are modified by the tetracyclines, their primary mode of action is inhibition of protein synthesis. Tetracyclines bind to the SOS ribosome and thereby prevent the binding of aminoacyl transfer RNA (tRNA) to the A site (acceptor site) on the 50S ri-bosomal unit. The tetracyclines affect both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells but are selectively toxic for bacteria, because they readily penetrate microbial membranes and accumulate in the cytoplasm through an energy-dependent tetracycline transport system that is absent from mammalian cells. 

The tetracyclines are a group of drugs with a common basic chemical structure and pharmacological activity. The first tetracycline, chlortetracycline was isolated from... 

Stezowski, J. J. Chemical structural properties of tetracycline derivatives. 1. Molecular structure and conformation of the free base derivatives. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 98, 6012-6018 (1976). 

Further antibiotics, mainly derived from actinomycetes, are used for special applications in human and veterinary medicine [20]. These compounds have numerous chemical structures. The macrolides, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides, and ansamycins for instance are used in antibacterial treatment whereas the anthracyclines reached the market to supplement anticancer chemotherapy. The fairly toxic polyether-type antibiotics are preferably used as anticoccidial agents. Due to the dramatically increasing resistance of clinical important bacterial strains new targets for the discovery of novel types of antibacterial agents are urgently needed. 

JJ Stezowski. Chemical-structural properties of tetracycline antibiotics. 4. Ring A tautomerism involving the protonated amide substituent as observed in the crystal structure of oc-6-deoxyoxytetracycline hydrohalides. J Am Chem Soc 99(4) 1122, 1977. 

Fig. 5.5 Chemical structures of dantrolene, a muscle relaxant (a) monocycUne, abroad-spectrum tetracyclin antibiotic (b) docosahexaenoic add, a arachidonic acid oxidation inhibitor (c) and polyethylene glycol (d)...

The tetracyclines are a group of antibiotics with the same basic chemical structure they are derivatives of the naphthacene ring system. Compounds of the series differ in the composition of the side chains (Fig. 1). These antibiotics derived from different Streptomyces species show closely related spectra of bacteriostatic properties, with the exception of minocycline, which is very effective against most Staphylococcus strains resistant to other tetracyclines. Absorption, metabolism, and excretion of the different tetracyclines vary, however. After oral application, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, and chlortetracycline are absorbed to a much lesser degree than demethylchlortetracycline, methacycline, or the almost entirely absorbed minocycline. Maximum blood levels are found 2-6 h after oral intake and immediately in the case of intravenous infusion. Half-lives between 8 and 15 h were reported. The tetracyclines diffuse readily across the vascular barrier and are found in various tissues such as the liver, spleen, bone marrow, kidney, skin, and lungs as well as the peritoneal and pericardiac cavities. The tetracyclines are also able to... 

Fig. 1 a-h. Chemical structures of the tetracyclines, a tetracycline b oxytetracycline c chlortetracycline d methacycline e demethylchlortetracycline f 6-deoxytetracycline (doxycycline) g minocycline h roli(A -pyrrolidinomethyl)tetracycline... 

Although a large variety of compounds can reduce tris(2,2 -bipyridyl)ruthenium(III), only certain species (e.g., aliphatic amines, amino acids, NADH, some alkaloids, aminoglycoside or tetracycline antibiotics, and the oxalate ion) will produce the characteristic orange luminescence with this reagent. Subtle differences in chemical structure can have a dramatic effect on chemiluminescence intensity. This is exemplified by the determination of the papaver alkaloid codeine (11) compared to structurally similar morphine (12). At pH 6.8, codeine can be determined down to a concentration of 10 mol 1 whereas morphine produces a chemiluminescent response equivalent to that of the blank. In many applications this degree of selectivity is most desirable. 

The tetracyclines are a group of antibiotics having an identical 4-ring carbocycHc structure as a basic skeleton and differing from each other chemically only by substituent variation. Figure 1 shows the principal tetracycline derivatives now used commercially. 

Dehydrations are chemical reactions that involve the loss of water. The acid-catalyzed dehydration of tetracycline yields the toxic epianhydrotetracycline [20]. The physical dehydration of theophylline hydrate and ampicillin trihydrate leads to a change of the crystalline structure of the drug [21]. 

The tetracycline molecule (1) presents a special challenge widr regard to tlie study of structure-activity relationships. The difficulty has been to devise chemical pathways that preserve the BCD ring chromophore and its antibacterial properties. The lability of die 6-hydroxy group to acid and base degradation, plus the ease of epimerization at position 4. contribute to chemical instability under many reaction conditions. 

During the course of experiments for the elucidation of the structure of the two earlier discovered compounds chlortetracycline (CTC) and oxytetracycline (OTC) it was found that hydrogenation of chlortetracycline resulted in halogenolysis and the product tetracycline (TC) retained the useful activity spectrum of the first two members of the family. TC appears to represent the first clinically successful antibiotic produced by shere chemical manipulation of preexisting antibiotic. TC was found to be present in fermentations of both cultures streptomyces aureofaciens and streptomyces rimosus as well as in streptomyces viridofaciens (1). 

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