Novel series of bispyridinium compounds bearing a (Z)-but-2-ene linker -: Synthesis and evaluation of their reactivation activity against tabun and paraoxon-inhibited acetylcholinesterase

Six novel ACNE reactivators with a (Z)-but-2-ene linker were synthesized using the known synthetic pathways. Their ability to reactivate ACNE, which had been previously inhibited by nerve agent tabun or pesticide paraoxon, was tested in vitro and compared to pralidoxime, HI-6, obidoxime, and K075. The novel synthesized compounds were found to be ineffective against GA-inhibited ACNE but the ability of (Z)-1,4-bis(4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)-but-2-ene dibromide to reactivate paraoxoninhibited ACNE was comparable with that of oxime K075. Notably, the oxime group in position four substantially increased the ability of the novel compounds to reactivate paraoxon-inhibited ACNE. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.