Chemistry of Azetidones

The development of new synthetic methodology for the preparation of compounds like quinolines and azetidinones continues to be an active and exciting area of research in organic chemistry. Even more than 70 years after the discovery of penicillin, ¿-lactam antibiotics remain as one of the most important contributions of science to Humanity. The ¿-lactam skeleton is the common structural element of the widely used penicillins, cephalosporins, thienamycine, nocardicins, aztreonam and carumonam. The first member of this class of compounds was synthesized by Staudinger in 1907, but until the discovery of penicillin by Fleming in 1929, the importance of ¿-lactams as antibiotics was not recognized. Widespread use of ¿-lactam antibiotics exerts selective pressure on bacteria and permits the proliferation of resistant organisms.