Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Enantiomers: how valid is Pfeiffer's rule?

R Barlow1

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, University of Bristol, Medical School, University Walk, UK.

Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
|April 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

Pfeiffer's rule, relating drug enantiomer potency to racemate dose, has a counterintuitive corollary. New analysis suggests molecular flexibility and entropy differences necessitate a revised model for drug activity.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Quantification of end-to-end beam hold latency using Surface Guided Radiotherapy gating, and cross-vendor linac comparison.

Physica medica : PM : an international journal devoted to the applications of physics to medicine and biology : official journal of the Italian Association of Biomedical Physics (AIFB)·2025
Same author

Erythroderma (exfoliative dermatitis). Part 2: energy homeostasis and dietetic management strategies.

Clinical and experimental dermatology·2021
Same author

Erythroderma (exfoliative dermatitis). Part 1: underlying causes, clinical presentation and pathogenesis.

Clinical and experimental dermatology·2021
Same author

Validating production of PET radionuclides in solid and liquid targets: Comparing Geant4 predictions with FLUKA and measurements.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2018
Same author

Circadian Clock: Where Is It Located in the Limulus Brain?

The Biological bulletin·2016
Same author

Circadian Rhythms in Limulus Visual Sensitivity Compensate for Day-Night Changes in Light Intensity.

The Biological bulletin·2016

Area of Science:

  • Pharmacology
  • Medicinal Chemistry
  • Stereochemistry

Background:

  • Pfeiffer's rule (1950s) observed a relationship between enantiomer potency and racemate dose.
  • This rule noted the greatest difference in potency for highly active compounds.
  • The original rule suggested reasons for the observed enantiomeric potency variations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine a corollary of Pfeiffer's rule concerning the weaker enantiomer's activity.
  • To highlight complexities and exceptions to Pfeiffer's rule with new examples.
  • To propose a revised model for understanding drug enantiomer activity.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of existing drug enantiomer and racemate data.
  • Consideration of molecular flexibility and entropy in drug-receptor interactions.
  • Review of simpler scenarios and additional examples to test the rule.

Main Results:

  • Identified an intuitively improbable corollary: weaker enantiomer activity is determined by the more potent one.
  • Demonstrated marked exceptions to Pfeiffer's rule in simpler and more complex cases.
  • Highlighted that current models overlook molecular flexibility and entropy differences.

Conclusions:

  • Pfeiffer's rule requires revision to account for molecular flexibility and entropy.
  • A new model is needed to accurately predict drug enantiomer activity.
  • Advances in receptor structure elucidation may renew interest in refining Pfeiffer's rule.

Related Experiment Videos