Chemical modification of monensin as a source of potent antiplasmodial agents

Malaria remains a significant public health issue and one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide. Due to the growing problem of drug resistance, new modes of fighting the disease are searched for. In this context, ionophore antibiotics, natural compounds with high potential for combating parasitic diseases, deserve special attention. The primary representative of such compounds, monensin (MON), demonstrates exceptionally high antiplasmodial activity. In this work, the C26-amino derivative of MON was used as a convenient substrate for the synthesis of its acyl analogues, such as amides and urea. All derivatives exhibited strong activity against the hepatic stage of Plasmodium berghei infection in vitro, which exceeded that shown by the reference drug primaquine. The IC₅₀ value for MONO-phenyl urethane (8) was less than 1 nM.