Progress towards a stable cephalosporin-halogenated phenazine conjugate for antibacterial prodrug applications

Resistant bacteria successfully evade the action of conventional antibiotic therapies during infection, often leading to significant illness and death. Our lab has discovered halogenated phenazine (HP) analogues which demonstrate potent antibacterial activities through a unique iron-starving mechanism. Herein, we describe synthetic efforts towards a stable cephalosporin-HP conjugate prodrug with the aim of translating HPs into useful clinical agents. Cephalosporin-antibiotic conjugates offer multiple advantages for antibacterial design, including the release of active agents through the targeting of intracellular cephalosporinase following selective ring-opening of the beta-lactam warhead. During these studies, carbonate-linked cephalosporin-HP conjugate 16 was synthesized; however, we were unable to successfully remove the ester group required for cephalosporinase processing. Cephalosporin-HP 16 was then utilized as a probe to investigate the stability of the carbonate linker in antibacterial assays and, as predicted, this compound proved to be inactive against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC > 100 µM). The lack of 16's antibacterial activity can be attributed to the carbonate linker remaining intact throughout the MIC assay, thus not liberating the active HP moiety. These efforts have led to a more stable cephalosporin-HP conjugate joined through a carbonate linker compared to a highly unstable ether linked analogue we previously reported.