Penem
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A penem is a type of β-lactam with an unsaturated five-member heterocycle containing a sulfur atom in a pentacyclic ring fused to the β-lactam ring. Penems do not occur naturally; all are synthetic. Related to penems are carbapenems, which have a carbon atom in place of the sulfur atom. An example is faropenem.
A penem is a type of β-lactam with an unsaturated five-member heterocycle containing a sulfur atom in a pentacyclic ring fused to the β-lactam ring. Penems do not occur naturally; all are synthetic. Related to penems are carbapenems, which have a carbon atom in place of the sulfur atom. An example is faropenem.
Structure
, a penem. A sulfur atom and a double bond are present in the pentacyclic ring. ]] . Imipenem has a sulfur atom that is not in the pentacyclic ring.]] , a penicillin. The double bond is absent in the pentacyclic ring.]] Penem molecules do not occur naturally, and production of penems is an entirely synthetic process. Five main penem subgroups — thiopenems, oxypenems, aminopenems, alkylpenems, and arylpenems — have been produced and are distinguished by the side chain (at position 2) of the unsaturated five-membered ring. One structurally distinct penem is BRL 42715. This molecule has no substitution at the above position, but has a bulky group attached to the β-lactam ring, and it displays effective inhibition of class C β-lactamases, but no antimicrobial activity. One possible consequence of these structural differences of penems from other β-lactams may be reduced immunogenicity and immunogenic cross-reactivity.
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Further reading
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1355225565 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.