Hetacillin (R)- and (S)-sulfoxides. Synthesis and structure-activity relationships.

Hetacillin was oxidized with m-chloroperbenzoic acid to give the corresponding (R)- and (S)-sulfoxides. Ozonization of hetacillin not only oxidized the sulfide but caused unexpected oxidation of the imidazolidine ring to a 2H-imidazoline. The biological spectrum showed the (R)-sulfoxide to be appreciably more active than the (S)-sulfoxide.