Saturday, August 31, 2013

Amoxicillin


Amoxicillin
 Given my particular interest in medicinal chemistry, amoxicillin seemed a good choice as one of my favorite organic molecules given its use as an antibiotic. I find it a particularly interesting molecule given the presence of the benzene and beta lactam ring.

  Amoxicillin

Formula: C16H19N3O5

-Functional groups present:
·      *Phenol
·      *Primary amine (basic group)
·      *Secondary amine
·      *Carboxylic acid (acidic group)

 Amoxicillin was discovered in 1972 in Beecham Research Laboratories (UK). It was discovered in an attempt to find derivatives of penicillin that could treat a wider range of infections. This led to the discovery of ampicillin followed by amoxicillin.
It is synthesized from naturally occurring substances as shown below:



2-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)glycine                                         trimethylsylil ester of 6-APA 
chloride hydrochloride



                                                                    amoxicillin

It is an antibiotic used to fight bacteria and bacterial infections. The walls surrounding the bacteria are prevented from forming due to the presence of the amoxicillin and therefore the bacteria can no longer multiply.
Examples of bacterial infections that can be treated with amoxicillin are…
Streptococci, E. coli, Staphylococcus, H. pylori, P. mirabilis, H. influenzae, N. gonorrhoeae, and S. pneumonia.
It is due to the discovery of molecules such as amoxicillin that today we can enjoy the effective treatments of many bacterial infections.


2 comments: