Studies of the photooxidant properties of antibacterial fluoroquinolones and their naphthalene derivatives.

We synthesized and determined the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as 1O2, *-O2, *OH, H2O2 during the photolysis with UV-A light of three antibacterial quinolones and their naphthyl ester derivatives. Singlet oxygen and ROS dose-dependant generation from norfloxacin (1), enoxacin (2), ciprofloxacin (3) and their respective naphthyl ester derivatives 4-6 were detecting in cell-free systems by the histidine assay and by luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (LCL). Both the electronic absorption and emission spectra were quantified and their photostability determined. The antibacterial activity in darkness and under irradiation of compounds 4, 5 and 6 was tested on E. coli and compared with their parent drugs.

Direct and indirect photolysis of the antibiotic enoxacin: kinetics of oxidation by reactive photo-induced species and simulations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the aqueous phase photochemical behavior of enoxacin (ENO), an antibiotic selected as a model pollutant of emerging concern. The second-order reaction rate constants of ENO with hydroxyl radicals (HO●) and singlet oxygen (1O2) were determined at pH 3, 7, and 9. Also, the rate constants of the electron transfer reaction between ENO and triplet states of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (3CDOM*) are reported for the first time, based on anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2S) as CDOM proxy. The sunlight-driven direct and indirect ENO degradation in the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is also discussed. The results show that direct photolysis, which occurs more rapidly at higher pH, along with the reactions with HO● and 3AQ2S*, is the key pathway involved in ENO degradation. The ENO zwitterions, prevailing at pH 7, show kENO, HO●, kENO,1O2, and kENO,3AQ2S* of (14.0 ± 0.8) × 1010, (3.9 ± 0.2) × 106, and (61.5 ± 0.7) × 108 L mol-1 s-1, respectively, whose differences at pH 3, 7, and 9 are due to ENO pH-dependent speciation and reactivity. These k values, along with the experimental ENO photolysis quantum yield, were used in mathematical simulations for predicting ENO persistence in sunlit natural waters. According to the simulations, dissolved organic matter and water depth are expected to have the highest impacts on ENO half-life, varying from a few hours to days in summertime, depending on the concentrations of relevant waterborne species (organic matter, NO3-, NO2-, HCO3-).

Structure and medium-dependent photodecomposition of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

The photochemical reactivity of four fluoroquinolone antibiotics is examined. For norfloxacin (NOR), enoxacin (ENX) and lomefloxacin (LOM), the only process occurring is defluorination (from position 6 for the first two drugs, from position 8 for the last one). The quantum efficiency is both structure and medium dependent (phi close to 0.5 both in water and in 0.1 M phosphate buffer for LOM; 0.01 for ENX and 0.004 for NOR in buffer, but more than an order of magnitude higher in neat water). Ofloxacin (OFL) is less light sensitive (phi 0.001) and undergoes, in part, reactions different from defluorination. The photoreaction involves heterolytic C-F bond fragmentation and its efficiency is determined by the internal charge-transfer character of the excited state (increasing in the series OFL < NOR < ENX < LOM according to the electronegativity of the substituent in position 8) and by the stabilization of the resulting aryl cation (larger for the 8-cation than for the 6-cation). The relevance of these data for the rationalization of the known phototoxicity of these drugs is discussed.

Laser flash photolysis study of photoionization in fluoroquinolones.

A laser flash photolysis investigation was carried out on the mechanism of electron photoejection in fluoroquinolone derivatives, bearing either electron donating or electron accepting substituents in position 8, laser excited at lambda(exc) = 355 nm in neutral aqueous solutions. The dependence of the hydrated electron absorption at 720 nm on the laser intensity and on the presence of N2O as electron scavenger evidenced that in enoxacin, norfloxacin, and lomefloxacin the photoionization is predominantly two-photon. With rufloxacin, besides the two-photon process, a one photon contribution with a quantum yield of 0.034 was measured.