mefloquine   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 4252

Synonyms: GNF-Pf-5544 | Lariam® | Ro-21-5998-001 | WR-142490
Approved drug PDB Ligand Antimalarial Ligand
mefloquine is an approved drug (FDA (1989), UK (1989))
Compound class: Synthetic organic
Comment: Mefloquine belongs to the aryl amino alcohols, a chemical class of antimalarial drugs that includes quinine, lumefantrine and halofantrine.
The approved drug is a racemic mixture of (R,S)- and (S,R)-enantiomers. We show the chemical structure without stereochemistry to represent the mixture and the non-isomeric structure is also represented in the PubChem and ChEMBL entries listed in the links table below, while the two enantiomers forming the racemate are represented by PubChem CID 40692 and PubChem CID 456309. PubChem lists 9 stereoisotopes.
The administerd form contains the mefloquine hydrochloride salt.

The Malaria tab on this ligand page provides additional curator comments of relevance to the Guide to MALARIA PHARMACOLOGY.

Activity at non-malarial protein targets:
Racemic mefloquine has been identified as an antagonist of the human adenosine A2A and A1 receptors, with nanomolar binding affinities [8]. The (11R,2'S) isomer of mefloquine (PubChem CID 456309) has been determined as the most potent A2A binder, with a Ki of 61 nM (Ki vs. A1 receptor is 255 nM) [4]. It has been suggested that off-target activity at human adenosine receptors may contribute towards the adverse neuropsychiatric side-effects that are associated with mefloquine use.
Click here for help
2D Structure
Click here for help
Click here for structure editor
Physico-chemical Properties
Click here for help
Hydrogen bond acceptors 3
Hydrogen bond donors 2
Rotatable bonds 4
Topological polar surface area 45.15
Molecular weight 378.12
XLogP 3.87
No. Lipinski's rules broken 0
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
Click here for help
Canonical SMILES OC(c1cc(nc2c1cccc2C(F)(F)F)C(F)(F)F)C1CCCCN1
Isomeric SMILES OC(c1cc(nc2c1cccc2C(F)(F)F)C(F)(F)F)C1CCCCN1
InChI InChI=1S/C17H16F6N2O/c18-16(19,20)11-5-3-4-9-10(15(26)12-6-1-2-7-24-12)8-13(17(21,22)23)25-14(9)11/h3-5,8,12,15,24,26H,1-2,6-7H2
InChI Key XEEQGYMUWCZPDN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Guide to Malaria Pharmacology Comments
Mefloquine was first introduced for the treatment of chloroquine resistant malaria but resistance to mefloquine itself soon emerged [1,7].
Mefloquine is listed in the World Health Organization's 22nd Essential Medicines List (2021) as a curative treatment for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in combination with artesunate. This is one of the artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) recommended in the WHO Guidelines for malaria [10].

Potential Target/Mechanism Of Action: As the precise mechanism of action of mefloquine is not yet known, we do not have a molecular target for this compound. Further information about possible mechanistic insights is provided under the Clinical data tab.