Novel sulfur-containing microbial metabolite of primaquine.

Microbial metabolism studies of the antimalarial drug primaquine, using Streptomyces roseochromogenus (ATCC 13400) have produced an N-acetylated metabolite and a methylene-linked dimeric product, both of which have been previously reported, and a novel sulfur-containing microbial metabolite. The structure of the metabolite as a sulfur-linked dimer was proposed on the basis of spectral and chemical data. The molecular formula C34H44N6O4S was established from field-desorption mass spectroscopy and analytical data. The 1H- and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data firmly established that the novel metabolite was a symmetrically substituted dimer of primaquine N-acetate with a sulfur atom linking the two units at C-5. The metabolite has been shown to be a mixture of stereoisomers which can equilibrate in solution. This observation was confirmed by microbial synthesis of the metabolite from optically active primaquine.