Neosalvarsan

Skeletal structure of neosalvarsan
Space-filling model of neosalvarsanNeosalvarsan (generic name, neoarsphenamine) is a synthetic antibiotic drug containing organic arsenic.

Chemical name: Sodium 3,3'-diamino-4,4'-dihydroxyarsenobenzene-N-formaldehydesulfoxylate
Formula: C13H13O4N2SAs2Na
Molecular weight: 465.99 g mol−1
Neosalvarsan became available in 1912 and superseded the more toxic and less water-soluble salvarsan as an effective treatment for syphilis. Because both of these organic arsenicals carried considerable risk of side-effects, they were replaced for this indication by penicillin in the 1940s.

Both salvarsan and neosalvarsan were discovered in the laboratory of Paul Ehrlich in Frankfurt, Germany. Their discovery was the result of the first organised team effort to optimise the biological activity of a lead compound through systematic chemical modifications. This scheme is the basis for most modern pharmaceutical research.

Both salvarsan and neosalvarsan are prodrugs, that is to say that they are metabolised to the active drug in the body.

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