Manchester NMR Methodology Group

One of the major drawbacks in the use of the antibiotic erythromycin A is its extreme acid sensitivity, leading to degradation in the stomach following oral administration. The modern derivative clarithromycin degrades by a different mechanism and much more slowly. We have studied the pathway and kinetics of the acid-catalyzed degradation of clarithromycin and of erythromycin B, a biosynthetic precursor of erythromycin A which also has good antibacterial activity, using H-1 NMR spectroscopy. Both drugs degrade by loss of the cladinose sugar ring and with similar rates of reaction. These results suggest that erythromycin B has potential as an independent therapeutic entity, with superior acid stability compared with erythromycin A and with the advantage over clarithromycin of being a natural product.