Chloramphenicol

Summary

Chloramphenicol (CHEMBL130) is an approved small-molecule antimicrobial agent (ATC S01AA01) targeting TAS2R8 and TAS2R41; indicated across 4 conditions including bacterial infectious disease and acne.

At a glance

• Status: Approved (max clinical phase 4)
• Modality: Small molecule
• ATC class: S01AA01 (+6 more)
• Targets: 2 (TAS2R8, TAS2R41)
• Indications: 4 conditions
• Chemistry: 323.13 Da · C11H12Cl2N2O5

Identifiers

Drug identity and classification

Field	Value
ChEMBL ID	CHEMBL130
Name	Chloramphenicol
Type	Small molecule
Max phase	4
FDA approved	yes
PubChem CID	5959
ChEBI	CHEBI:17698
ATC	S01AA01, S03AA08, D06AX02, G01AA05, S02AA01, D10AF03, J01BA01
Molecular formula	C11H12Cl2N2O5
Molecular weight	323.13
InChIKey	WIIZWVCIJKGZOK-RKDXNWHRSA-N

SMILES: C1=CC(=CC=C1[C@H]([C@@H](CO)NC(=O)C(Cl)Cl)O)[N+](=O)[O-]

IUPAC name: 2,2-dichloro-N-[(1R,2R)-1,3-dihydroxy-1-(4-nitrophenyl)propan-2-yl]acetamide

ChEBI definition: An organochlorine compound that is dichloro-substituted acetamide containing a nitrobenzene ring, an amide bond and two alcohol functions.

Pharmacological roles (ChEBI): antimicrobial agent, antibacterial drug, protein synthesis inhibitor, geroprotector.

Other ChEBI roles (chemical / environmental): Escherichia coli metabolite, Mycoplasma genitalium metabolite.

Also known as: Amphicol, Brochlor, Brolene antibiotic, Chloramphenicol, Chloramphenicol component of chloromyxin, Chloramphenicol component of ophthocort, Chlorofair, Chloromycetin, Chloroptic, Chloroptic s.o.p., Cloranfenicol, Chloramex

Parent form; salt/anhydrous children: CHEMBL2205638

Patent coverage: 64,414 distinct patent families (194,583 SureChEMBL compound mentions), from 1 matched compound structure(s). Mentions count patents naming the compound (not distinct inventions), so promiscuous / reference molecules inflate the mention figure — families are the dedup metric.

Targets

Targets

Primary targets (GtoPdb curated mechanism): the Cancer dependency column is the DepMap CRISPR fitness signal (% of screened cell lines dependent on the target).

Gene	Target	Action	pAffinity	Cancer dependency	UniProt
TAS2R8	TAS2R8	Agonist		0%	Q9NYW2
TAS2R41	TAS2R41	Agonist		0%	P59536

Broader ChEMBL bioactivity targets: 6 (assay-derived). Sample: Streptokinase A, Bacterial 70S ribosome, Cytochrome P450 3A4, Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1, Lethal factor, Methionine–tRNA ligase, mitochondrial.

Bioactivity

ChEMBL activities: 3 potent at pChembl ≥ 5 of 6 total. Top 30 by potency (10 = 0.1 nM, 6 = 1 µM):

Target	pChembl	Type	Value	Unit	Activity ID
P02358	6.37	IC50	430	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_3538160
P10520	6.01	EC50	973	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_4905788
MARS2	5.1	EC50	7900	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_22752121

Target pathways

Aggregated over 2 target gene(s): TAS2R8, TAS2R41.

Top Reactome pathways

9 total, by targets touching each:

Pathway	Targets	Genes
Signal Transduction	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
Signaling by GPCR	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
GPCR downstream signalling	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
G alpha (i) signalling events	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
Class C/3 (Metabotropic glutamate/pheromone receptors)	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
GPCR ligand binding	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
Sensory Perception	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
Sensory perception of taste	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8
Sensory perception of sweet, bitter, and umami (glutamate) taste	2	TAS2R41, TAS2R8

Dominant GO biological processes

GO term	Targets
signal transduction	2
G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway	2
sensory perception of taste	2
detection of chemical stimulus involved in sensory perception of bitter taste	1

Indications & clinical

Indications

4 indications (3 at ChEMBL trial phase 4). Phase below is the highest clinical-trial phase recorded for this drug against each disease — not the molecule’s overall approval status (that is in the Summary).

Indication	Trial phase	MONDO	EFO
bacterial infectious disease	4	MONDO:0005113	EFO:0000771
acne	4	MONDO:0011438	EFO:0003894
eye infectious disorder	4	MONDO:0043885	EFO:1001888
osteomyelitis	0	MONDO:0005246	EFO:0003102

Clinical trials

Total trials: 0.

Clinical evidence (CIViC)

No CIViC predictive evidence (expected for non-precision-medicine drugs).

Pharmacology

Pharmacogenomics

No PharmGKB pharmacogenomic data curated for this drug.

Related molecules

Related molecules

Molecules sharing ≥1 of this drug’s curated primary targets, merged from two biobtree sources and ranked by shared-target count, then clinical phase: ChEMBL clinical-stage candidates (development phase ≥2) and PubChem drug-class bioactivity (approved / known drugs acting on the target). Deduplicated by drug name; the drug’s own salt forms are excluded. Note: for a drug with few primary targets a shared-target match can reflect off-target / promiscuous binding rather than the same therapeutic mechanism — the phase ordering surfaces bona-fide therapeutics first.

1 molecules share ≥1 primary target. Top 1 by shared-target count:

Molecule	Source	Status	Shared targets
ISOPROTERENOL	ChEMBL	Phase 4 (approved)	TAS2R41, TAS2R8