Novel metallocenic compounds as antimalarial agents. Study of the position of ferrocene in chloroquine

The synthesis, characterization and antimalarial activity of two new ferrocene-chloroquine compounds are reported. One of them, 7-chloro-4-N-[(4-N′-ethyl-N′-ferrocenylmethyl)ammonio-1- methylbutylamino]quinolin-1-ium bi-tartrate (2) showed very promising antimalarial activity in vivo on mice infected with Plasmodium berghei N. and Plasmodium yoelii NS. and in vitro against chloroquine resistant-strains of Plasmodium falciparum. © 1999 Elsevier Science S.A.