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Given the misreporting about the differences between chloroquine vs. chloroquine phosphate vs. hydroxychloroquine, here is a simple chemistry overview. All have side-effects and none should be taken without a prescription. Chloroquine is the molecule shown in the upper left.(1/5)
Two of the three N (nitrogen) atoms in chloroquine each tend to grab an extra proton in neutral water. When that happens, chloroquine acquires two positive charges—it becomes a cation. Those positive charges must find negative charges (anions) in stable forms of chloroquine.(2/5)
A convenient and common anion is phosphate, which has 1 or 2 negative charges under neutral aqueous conditions. So making a salt between positive charged (+2) chloroquine and two (-1) charged phosphates gives chloroquine diphosphate (upper right), aka chloroquine phosphate. (3/5)
Most salts in the body freely exchange their cations & anions. So chloroquine phosphate in the body will turn into a mix of chloroquine chloride, sulfate, etc. So while chloroquine is not the same as chloroquine phosphate, in the body they will become the same mix of salts. (4/5)
Hydroxychloroquine (lower left) is NOT the same as chloroquine; the former has an extra bond connecting a carbon with an OH group. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine do not interconvert. A common salt form of hydroxychloroquine drug is the sulfate salt (lower right). (5/5)
Finally, I'll note that there are several (or more) FDA-approved drugs that in cultured cells show more potent anti-viral activity against #SARSCoV2 than either chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. And most have more promising safety profiles than chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.
(Here's a more accurate way to represent protonated chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine cations, which recognizes that protonating the quinoline ring N is stabilized by resonance with the exocyclic amine's lone pair, DMAP-style.):
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