Carbamate group as structural motif in drugs: a review of carbamate derivatives used as therapeutic agents
Article Category: Review
Published Online: Dec 31, 2020
Page range: 285 - 299
Received: Jul 01, 2020
Accepted: Dec 01, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2020-71-3466
Keywords
© 2020 Ana Matošević, Anita Bosak, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Due to their very good chemical and proteolytic stability, ability to penetrate cell membranes, and resemblance to a peptide bond, carbamate derivatives have received much attention in recent years and got an important role in modern drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Today, carbamates make structural and/or functional part of many drugs and prodrugs approved and marketed for the treatment of various diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, hepatitis C, HIV infection, and Alzheimer’s disease. In drugs they can play a role in drug-target interaction or improve the biological activity of parent molecules. In prodrugs they are mainly used to delay first-pass metabolism and enhance the bioavailability and effectiveness of compounds. This brief review takes a look at the properties and use of carbamates in various fields of medicine and provides quick insights into the mechanisms of action for some of them.