Hello guys
I am really confused.........
The separation of sulfonamides and benzoic acid. I am confused of the reasons of doing these experiment.
is that only due to their structures similarity?
Because when I read about these compounds I found that, sulfonamides are a chemical substances used as drugs for bacteria infections and by the excess of benzoic acid derivatives we can inhibit sulfonamides, in which the sulfonamide will be not enough to stop the bacterial growth. as it is known, Bacteria grows by forming the folic acid by para-aminobenzoic acid. So when sulfonamides block the parar amino benzoic acid and prevent it from forming folic acid the growth of bacteria stops, so the bacteria forms more para amino benzoic acid to overcomes the sulfonamides activit.
Therefore, what is the benefits of the separation of these two compounds if the inhibitions of sulfonamides occurs by the excess of benzoic acid derivatives?
PABA (p-aminobenzoic acid) leads to folic acid, whereas sulfonamides inhibit its formation. Having PABA in the mixture defeats the purpose of the treatment.
I think it's a basic purification of a drug. Sulfonamides are not only antibiotics, there are loop diuretics, anticonvulsants, diabetes medication, etc. Benzoic acid is a good representative of reactants that might be left over. The PABA thing is not really important, PABA contamination in antibiotics would be irrelevant since bacteria synthesizes on it's own and it would be extremely unlikely that it would reach the infection site.
Thanks for both answers
Mr. Tomas Allende, could please provide me with more information about " Benzoic acid is a good representative of reactants that might be left over"
or any source that can help?
It is really good question Mohamed. Having said that PABA is an important thing for the bacterial growth in order to produce folic acid vitamin, it is a must to separate any substance which could lead to enhance the process as in this matter benzoic acid might be an activation factor to increase the folic acid synthesis inside the bacterial cell.
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