Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Part 54: metal complexes of heterocyclic sulfonamides: a new class of antiglaucoma agents.

Metal complexes of heterocyclic sulfonamides possessing carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitory properties were recently shown to be useful as intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering agents in experimental animals, and might be developed as a novel class of antiglaucoma drugs. Here we report the synthesis of a heterocyclic sulfonamide CA inhibitor and of the metal complexes containing main group metal ions, such as Be(II), Mg(II), Al(III), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) and the new sulfonamide as well as 5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-sulfonamide as ligands. The new complexes were characterized by standard physico-chemical procedures, and assayed as inhibitors of three CA isozymes, CA I, II and IV. Some of them (but not the parent sulfonamides) strongly lowered IOP in rabbits when administered as a 2% solution into the eye.