To identify common spatial and structural features of amino alcohol antimalarial agents with the eventual goal of designing more effective drugs and a better understanding of the mechanism of action of this class of antimalarial agents, the three-dimensional crystal and molecular structure of enpiroline, a new antimalarial agent active against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum, was determined by X-ray crystallography and compared with the crystal structures of the cinchona alkaloids and of the new antimalarial agent WR 194,965. The aromatic rings of the phenyl-pyridine ring system of enpiroline are twisted from each other by approximately 180. The intramolecular aliphatic N-O distance in enpiroline was 2.80 A (1 A = 0.1 nm), which is close to the N-O distance found in the antimalarial cinchona alkaloids. Enpiroline contains both an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the aliphatic nitrogen and oxygen atoms and an intermolecular hydrogen bond between the aliphatic nitrogen and oxygen atoms of two neighboring molecules. One enantiomer of enpiroline superimposed best with quinine, and the other enantiomer of enpiroline superimposed best with quinidine, suggesting that both enantiomers of enpiroline possess antimalarial activity. Since a common feature of the crystal structures of the amino alcohol antimalarial agents is the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, the common spatial direction of hydrogen bond formation indicates the potential ability of these antimalarial agents to bind to a common receptor site. The crystallographic 1.46 g cm-3; source of radiation, CuKa (X = 1.54178 A); ,i (absorption coefficient) = 11.49 cm-'; F(000) (sum of atomic scattering factors at zero scattering angle) = 832; room temperature; final R = 8.7% for 1,798 reflections with FOI > 3of.With the continuing spread of multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria (14), the development of new antimalarial drugs is imperative. Enpiroline (Fig. 1, com
falciparum infections (3).A detailed knowledge of the three-dimensional spatial requirements of the amino alcohol antimalarial agents should expedite the continued development of antimalarial drugs active against P. falciparum and provide clues to the mechanism of action of this class of antimalarial agents. The mechanism of action of quinoline-containing or amino alcohol or both antimalarial agents remains unknown (5,6,16). Alkalinization by antimalarial agents of parasite acid vesicles (11) appears to contribute to parasite toxicity, but does not provide a complete explanation of antimalarial activity due to the lack of direct correlation of pKas of the antimalarial * Corresponding author. agents with antimalarial activity and the unpredictability of the cross resistance of different parasite strains (4,5,16).Although the mechanism of antimalarial action of the amino alcohol antimalarial agents has not been determined, the activity of the amino alcohol antimalarial agents does have structural requirements, as exemplified by the active erythro cinchona alkaloids (quini...