Sulphanilamides

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A class of synthetic compounds used as antibacterial agents that inhibit the growth of bacteria
2. They function as metabolic antagonists by mimicking para-aminobenzoic acid, crucial for bacterial survival
3. These substances are often utilized in the treatment of various infections and are derived from sulfanilamide, a parent compound

Etymology: "Sulphanilamides" is simply the plural of "sulphanilamide," a term built from two chemical names joined together. The core is "sulphanilic," which refers to sulphanilic acid, a compound made from aniline and sulphuric acid, and "amide," the chemical class of compounds in which a nitrogen atom is bonded to a carbonyl or similar group. Chemists combined these to name the resulting molecule, whose structure is a sulphanilic acid unit with an amide group attached. The compound belongs to a family of synthetic drugs that became known as the sulfonamides, which were among the first antibacterial medicines. Because the family was named by chemical structure rather than by any single inventor's coinage, the word is a technical descriptor. The plural simply refers to the whole class of these related molecules.