The Development of New Structural Analogues of Oximes for the Antidotal Treatment of Poisoning by Nerve Agents and the Comparison of Their Reactivating and Therapeutic Efficacy with Currently Available Oximes

Highly toxic organophosphorus inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase referred as nerve agents are considered to be among the most dangerous chemical warfare agents. The oximes represent very important part of antidotal medical countermeasures. They are used to reactivate the nerve agent-inhibited acetylcholinesterase. Despite long-term research activities, there is no single, broad-spectrum oxime suitable for the antidotal treatment of poisoning with all organophosphorus agents. Therefore, the development of new structural analogues of currently available oximes should continue to increase the effectiveness of antidotal treatment of poisoning by organophosphorus compounds. The review describes the development of new structural analogues of currently available oximes and the evaluation of their potency to counteract the acute toxicity of some nerve agents (tabun, cyclosarin) in comparison with commonly used oximes (pralidoxime, obidoxime, trimedoxime, HI-6).