Purpose: To study the reaction of artelinic acid with chemical model systems of cytochrome P-450 as a means of obtaining authentic samples of the putative metabolites necessary for identification of the mammalian metabolites of artelinic acid.
Methods: Artelinic acid was reacted with different organic complexes of iron(II). The reaction products were isolated and characterized by NMR and thermospray mass spectroscopy.
Results: Five compounds which are putative metabolites of artelinic acid were isolated from these reactions and unambiguously identified, while the identity of two other compounds await final confirmation.
Conclusions: Standards of possible metabolites of artelinic acid can be produced by the reaction of the compound with ferrous complexes that may simulate cytochrome P-450 catalyzed metabolism of xenobiotics. This approach may provide a simple and versatile method for the formation of metabolites of artemisinin compounds which is more advantageous than previous approaches with fungal-based systems.