The identification and characterisation of chloramphenicol-aldehyde, a new human metabolite of chloramphenicol.

The toxic aldehyde derivative of chloramphenicol has previously been reported as a metabolic product only in the rat. Chloramphenicol-aldehyde has been synthesised and characterised and shown to exist in at least two forms, possibly due to rearrangement within the molecule. The authenticated compound has been used to identify chloramphenicol-aldehyde as a metabolic product excreted in the urine of children treated with chloramphenicol.