Zrinka Tamburašev was a Croatian scientist known for her work in the development of antibiotics such as
oxytetracycline
Oxytetracycline is a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, the second of the group to be discovered.
Oxytetracycline works by interfering with the ability of bacteria to produce essential proteins. Without these proteins, the bacteria cannot ...
and
azithromycin
Azithromycin, sold under the brand names Zithromax (in oral form) and Azasite (as an eye drop), is an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of several bacterial infections. This includes otitis media, middle ear infections, strep throa ...
.
Early life
Tamburašev was born in
Sisak
Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...
,
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
, in 1921. She graduated in 1948 from the Chemical-Technological Department of the Technical Faculty in Zagreb and earned her doctorate in 1965.
Career
She joined the research institute of the pharmaceutical company
PLIVA
Pliva d.o.o. is a pharmaceutical company based in Zagreb, Croatia that primarily manufactures and sells generic drugs. It is a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Pliva is one of the world's largest producers of Generic drug, generic Adderall. ...
in 1957,
where she made several discoveries and patents in departments of
microbiology
Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...
,
biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
, and
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
. While at PLIVA she led the group for semisynthetic macrolides from 1972 to 1974, and in 1974 she was named the head of the natural products department.
In the mid-1960s, she worked with Slobodan Đokić on erythromycin A derivatives and on sulfonamide derivatives of erythromycylamine, with the idea of combining the properties of
erythromycin
Erythromycin is an antibiotic used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes respiratory tract infections, skin infections, chlamydia infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and syphilis. It may also be used ...
and
sulfonamide
In organic chemistry, the sulfonamide functional group (also spelled sulphonamide) is an organosulfur group with the Chemical structure, structure . It consists of a sulfonyl group () connected to an amine group (). Relatively speaking this gro ...
s. She began work on the synthesis of individual phases for the preparation of azithromycin, and the results of this research challenged the previous understanding of the
macrocyclic
Macrocycles are often described as molecules and ions containing a ring of twelve or more atoms. Classical examples include the crown ethers, calixarenes, porphyrins, and cyclodextrins. Macrocycles describe a large, mature area of chemistry.
...
ring of erythromycin as the bearer of the antibacterial activity of macrolides. In 1974 her collaboration with
Slobodan Đokić
Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...
,
Gabrijela Kobrehel Gabrijela () is a Croatian given name. It may refer to:
*Gabrijela Bartulović
Gabrijela Bartulović (née Bešen; born 6 December 1994) is a Croatian handball player for Dunaújvárosi Kohász KA and the Croatia women's national handball team, ...
, and
Gorjana Lazarevski led to the development of azithromycin, an erythromycin derivative later established in the American market as
Zithromax
Azithromycin, sold under the brand names Zithromax (in oral form) and Azasite (as an eye drop), is an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of several bacterial infections. This includes middle ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, ...
.
She devised a method for isolating the antibiotic oxytetracycline in its industrial production and dealt with the chemical transformations of tetracycline order antibiotics and erythromycin. She is a co-author of patents that protected the preparation of oximes of erythromycin A and erythromycylamine, important intermediates in the synthesis of second-generation macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and dirithromycin).
Tamburašev died on April 24, 2003,
in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, at the age of 82.
Selected publications
*
*
*
*
*
Honors and awards
Following the discovery of
azithromycin
Azithromycin, sold under the brand names Zithromax (in oral form) and Azasite (as an eye drop), is an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of several bacterial infections. This includes otitis media, middle ear infections, strep throa ...
, she became the recipient of the City of Zagreb Award
for 1959, the PLIVA Award for 1996,
and the Croatian Chamber of Economy's Golden Marten Award for Lifetime Achievement for 1998.
In 1998 she also received the Nagrade HAZU-a.
Patents
Zrinka Tamburasev has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
References
External links
Biography of Tamburasev on the Croatian Technical Encyclope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamburasev, Zrinka
1921 births
2003 deaths
Women chemists
University of Zagreb alumni
Croatian chemists