Sulfanilamide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sulfanilamide (also spelled sulphanilamide) is a sulfonamide antibacterial. Chemically, it is a molecule containing the sulfonamide functional group attached to an aniline. As a sulfonamide antibiotic, it functions by competitively inhibiting (i.e., by acting as a substrate analogue) enzymatic reactions involving para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA).[1] PABA is needed in enzymatic reactions that produce folic acid which acts as a coenzyme in the synthesis of purine, pyrimidine and other amino acids.
The term "sulfanilamides" is also used to describe a family of molecules containing these functional groups. Examples include:
Gerhard Domagk, who directed the testing of the prodrug Prontosil in 1935,[2] and Jacques and Thérèse Tréfouël, who along with Federico Nitti and Daniel Bovet in the laboratory of Ernest Fourneau at the Pasteur Institute, discovered the active component, 4-aminobenzenesulfonamide,[3] are generally credited with the discovery of sulfanilamide as a chemotherapeutic agent. Domagk was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Michael Kent, Advanced Biology, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 46 ISBN 9780199141951
- ^ G. Domagk, "Ein Beitrag zur Chemotherapie der bakteriellen Infektionen", Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, 61, feb. 15, 1935, p. 250.
- ^ J. et T. Tréfouël, F. Nitti and D. Bovet, "Activité du p-aminophénylsulfamide sur l’infection streptococcique expérimentale de la souris et du lapin", C. R. Soc. Biol., 120, nov. 23, 1935, p. 756.
- ^ (French) Daniel Bovet, "Les étapes de la découverte de la sulfamidochrysoïdine dans les laboratoires de recherche de la firme Bayer à Wuppertal-Elberfeld (1927-1932)", in Une chimie qui guérit : Histoire de la découverte des sulfamides, Coll. "Médecine et Société", Payot, Paris, 1988, p. 307.
(what is this?) (verify)
