COMPLEXES OF AZITHROMYCIN WITH SOME DIVALENT METAL-IONS

The formation of 2 : 1 complexes of azithromycin with copper(II), zinc (II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), magnesium(II) and calcium(II) ions was e xamined. These compounds (2-7) showed the same in vitro biological pot ency as azithromycin (1). The complexes (3-7) are isostructural and di fferent when compared with azithromycin-Cu(II)- complex. Copper(II)-co mplex (2) was most stable and selected for structure determination by X-ray crystallography. Some physical characteristics and analyses of t he complexes are also presented.