1989 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 63-72
Over eighty N-alkyl vancomycins were synthesized by reductive alkylation of vancomycin with the appropriate aldehydes. The N-alkyl vancomycins exhibit greater antibacterial activity than the corresponding N-acyl vancomycins and the parent antibiotic. Some of these semisynthetic vancomycins are five times more active than vancomycin. The N-alkyl vancomycins also show longer elimination half-lives in rats than vancomycin.