SYNTHESIS OF NEW HALOGENATED AND BENZYLATED QUINOLONES

Abstract

Quinolone derivatives have been used as antibiotics since the introduction of nalidixic acid in the 1960s. Antibiotic quinolone drugs are thought to bind to DNA, inhibiting the action of topoisomerase II, an enzyme which cuts both strands of DNA during replication, unwinds them, and then rejoins them. Without this enzyme’s action, no cell division is possible. Some antibiotic quinolone drugs are fluorinated and many contain a carboxyl group to facilitate aqueous solubility. At least one quinolone drug has been used to treat muscular dystrophy. The new quinolone derivatives described do not follow the existing template for quinolone drugs, but are similar. Some of these new quinolones were nitrated in order to enhance their solubility in water, and all were fluorinated or chlorinated. The quinolone derivatives described here were tested against three common bacteria, S. saprophyticus, E. coli, and P. stutzeri. None was found to be effective against any of these three bacteria.