Zrinka Tamburašev

Zrinka Tamburašev was a Croatian scientist known for her work in the development of antibiotics such as oxytetracycline and azithromycin.

Early life Tamburašev was born in Sisak, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in 1921. She graduated in 1948 from the Chemical-Technological Department of the Technical Faculty in Zagreb and earned her doctorate in 1965. Career

In the mid-1960s, she worked with Slobodan Đokić on erythromycin A derivatives and on sulfonamide derivatives of erythromycylamine, with the idea of combining the properties of erythromycin and sulfonamides. She began work on the synthesis of individual phases for the preparation of azithromycin, and the results of this research challenged the previous understanding of the macrocyclic ring of erythromycin as the bearer of the antibacterial activity of macrolides. In 1974 her collaboration with Slobodan Đokić, Gabrijela Kobrehel, and Gorjana Lazarevski led to the development of azithromycin, an erythromycin derivative later established in the American market as Zithromax.

She devised a method for isolating the antibiotic oxytetracycline in its industrial production and dealt with the chemical transformations of tetracycline order antibiotics and erythromycin. She is a co-author of patents that protected the preparation of oximes of erythromycin A and erythromycylamine, important intermediates in the synthesis of second-generation macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and dirithromycin). in Zagreb, Croatia, at the age of 82.

Selected publications

Honors and awards Following the discovery of azithromycin, she became the recipient of the City of Zagreb Award In 1998 she also received the Nagrade HAZU-a.

+ Patents by Zrinka Tamburašev 11-Aza-10-deoxo-10-dihydroerythromycin A and derivatives thereof as well as a process for their preparation Patent number: 4328334

Abstract: 11-aza-10-deoxo-10-dihydroerythromycin A and derivatives thereof, and process for preparation thereof.

Type: Grant

Filed: March 28, 1980

Date of Patent: May 4, 1982

Assignee: PLIVA Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works

Inventors: Gabrijela Kobrehel, Gordana Radobolja, Zrinka Tamburasev, Slobodan Djokic 4-Dedimethylamino-4-arylsulfonamido-5a,6-anhydrotetracyclines Patent number: 4160783

Abstract: Novel 4-dedimethylamino-4-arylsulfonamido-5a,6-anhydrotetracyclines of the general formula I ##STR1## wherein R stands for C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 -alkyl, halogen or --NHCOR.sup.1, R.sup.1 being C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 -alkyl.

Type: Grant

Filed: November 28, 1977

Date of Patent: July 10, 1979

Assignee: PLIVA Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works

Inventors: Marica Cakara, Slobodan Djokic, Zrinka Tamburasev N-(Benzenesulfonyl)-erythromycylamine derivatives Patent number: 3983103

Abstract: The new antibiotic compounds N-(4-R-benzenesulfonyl)-erythromycylamine, wherein R is a lower alkyl group having 1-5 carbon atoms, an acylamino group wherein the acyl has 2-4 carbon atoms, or a halo group.

Type: Grant

Filed: July 14, 1975

Date of Patent: September 28, 1976

Assignee: PLIVA Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works

Inventors: Gabrijela Kobrehel, Zrinka Tamburasev, Slobodan Djokic Manufacture of N-(benzenesulfonyl)-5-O-desosaminyl-erythromycilamine derivatives Patent number: 3939144

Abstract: N-(4-R.sup.2 -benzenesulfonyl)-5-O-desosaminyl-erythromycilamine, wherein R.sup.2 is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 alkyl radical, halogen or NH.sub.2. The compounds possess antibacterial activity.

Type: Grant

Filed: January 10, 1975

Date of Patent: February 17, 1976

Assignee: Pliva, Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works

Inventors: Gorjana Radobolja, Zrinka Tamburasev, Slobodan Djokic