We report the oxidation of the first line anti-HIV drug efavirenz (EFV), mediated by a bio-inspired nonheme Fe-complex. Depending upon the experimental conditions this system can be tuned either to yield the major EFV metabolite, 8-hydroxy-EFV, in enantiomerically pure form or to mimic cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity, yielding 8-hydroxy-EFV and 7-hydroxy-EFV, the two phenolic EFV metabolites reported to be formed in vivo. The successful oxidation of the anti-estrogen tamoxifen and the equine estrogen equilin into their CYP-mediated metabolites supports the general application of bio-inspired nonheme Fe-complexes in mirroring CYP activity.
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry
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