The history of antibacterial agents

Over the next twenty years, progress was made against a variety of protozoal diseases, but little progress was made in finding antibacterial agents, until the introduction of proflavine in 1934. 

Proflavine (Fig. 10.2) is a yellow-coloured aminoacridine structure which is particu- 

This need was answered in 1935 with the discovery that a red dye called prontosil (Fig. 10.3) was effective against streptococci infections in vivo. As discussed later, 

Although penicillin (Fig. 10.18) was discovered in 1928, it was not until 1940 that effective means of isolating it were developed by Florey and Chain. Society was then rewarded with a drug which revolutionized the fight against bacterial infection and proved even more effective than the sulfonamides. 

In 1944, the antibiotic streptomycin (Fig. 10.70) was discovered from a systematic search of soil organisms. It extended the range of chemotherapy to Tubercle bacillus and a variety of Gram-negative bacteria. This compound was the first example of a series of antibiotics known as the aminoglycoside antibiotics. 

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