Abstract
Chloramphenicol 1 (Figure 9.1) has been a useful antibacterial drug in the past but has since been replaced by newer agents which offer comparable or enhanced potency without particular adverse side effects (potentially fatal aplastic anemia). Nonetheless, chloramphenicol was the first orally active broad spectrum antibiotic to reach the market. It is also a landmark agent since it was the first systemic agent to be produced by total chemical synthesis in an inexpensive fashion and abundant quantity. As a result, chloramphenicol is a historically important chemotherapeutic agent and its use was prevalent for decades from the 1950s. Chloramphenicol was first reported in 1947 as an isolable natural product from composted material containing a Streptomyces microorganism and its broad spectrum of primarily bacteriostatic action was duly noted.
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Chloramphenicol
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© 1997 Chapman & Hall
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Dax, S.L. (1997). Miscellaneous antibacterial agents. In: Antibacterial Chemotherapeutic Agents. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0097-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0097-4_9
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