Chloramphenicol-specific antibody. II. Reactivity to analogues of chloramphenicol.

Using the classical hapten inhibition technique, antibody binding sites on the chloramphenicol molecule were explored. Sixteen compounds related to chloramphenicol, but with varying degrees of change in their structure, were examined for inhibiting ability at 1-, 10- and 100-μg levels. The removal of the two chlorine atoms accounted for the greatest loss of antibody binding capacity. The major antigenic sites are separate from the sites critical for the antibiotic activity of chloramphenicol.