Fosmidomycin analogues with N-hydroxyimidazole and N-hydroxyimidazolone as a chelating unit

Fosmidomycin has been reported to have many biological activities as an antibacterial and antimalarial, along with being a herbicidal agent. Its unique mode of action involves the inhibition of a key step of the non mevalonate pathway by blockade of a crucial enzyme, the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR), whose expression is present in bacteria, plasmodium parasites and higher plants, but not in mammals. Herein we report the development of fosmidomycin and of FR-900098 constrained analogues belonging to an unusual heterocyclic based complexing subunit involving N-hydroxyimidazoles and cyclic N-hydroxyureas.