Thiamphenicol (also known as thiophenicol and dextrosulphenidol) is an antibiotic. It is the methyl-sulfonyl analogue of chloramphenicol and has a similar spectrum of activity, but is 2.5 to 5 times as potent. Like chloramphenicol, it is insoluble in water, but highly soluble in lipids.
Thiamphenicol is an antibiotic that has been used to treat chancroid in men and uncomplicated gonorrhea. It is used in studies of bacterial protein synthesis at the level of peptidyl transferase activity associated with the 23S rRNA of the 50S ribosomal subunit. It is used to study chloraniphenicol-thiamphenicol-resistance and the use of fluorinated analogs when resistance is encountered. Its main advantage over chloramphenicol is that it has never been associated with aplastic anaemia.
Thiamphenicol inhibits mitochondrial protein synthesis of proteins such as cytochrome c oxidase.