From the chemistry perspective, nitroimidazole antibiotics can be classified according to the location of the nitro
functional group. Structures with names 4- and 5-nitroimidazole are equivalent from the perspective of drugs since these
tautomers readily interconvert. Drugs of the 5-nitro variety include
metronidazole,
tinidazole,
nimorazole,
dimetridazole,
pretomanid,
ornidazole,
megazol, and
azanidazole. Drugs based on 2-nitroimidazoles include
benznidazole and
azomycin. Nitroimidazole antibiotics have been used to combat
anaerobic bacterial and
parasitic infections. Perhaps the most common example is
metronidazole. Other heterocycles such as nitrothiazoles (
thiazole) are also used for this purpose. Nitroheterocycles are thought to be
reductively activated in
hypoxic cells, and then undergo
chemical decomposition to form
toxic radical products. ,
tinidazole, and
nimorazole ==References ==