A novel carbapenem antibiotic, SM-7338 structure-activity relationships.

A series of new carbapenem compounds, which have a pyrrolidin-3'-ylthio group substituted with various aminocarbonyl group at C-5' position as C-2 side chain, have been prepared. The antibacterial activity and the stability to renal dehydropeptidase-I of these compounds were investigated, and the structure-activity relationships were discussed. In this series, SM-7338; (1R,5S,6S)-2-[(3S,5S)-5-dimethylaminocarbonylpyrrolidin-3-ylthi o]-6-[(R)-1-hydroxyethyl]-1-methylcarbapen-2-em-3-carboxylic acid (5a) was the most interesting compound.