Question

Name the following drug molecule:

• A. Mechlorethamine
• B. Chlorambucil
• C. Vincristine
• D. 6-Mercaptopurine

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The correct option is (B): Mechlorethamine.

Answer 2

The structure shown needs to be matched against four chemotherapy drugs that look quite different from one another once you know their drug class. Let's separate them by structural type.

1. Mechlorethamine: This is the original nitrogen mustard, a simple tertiary amine carrying a methyl group and two 2-chloroethyl arms directly on the nitrogen, with no aromatic ring or extended side chain. It is the simplest of the four structures, matching a bis(chloroethyl)amine core with no additional ring system.
2. Chlorambucil: This is also a nitrogen mustard, but here the two chloroethyl arms sit on a nitrogen that is attached to a benzene ring, which in turn carries a butanoic acid side chain. That extra aromatic ring and carboxylic acid tail make its structure noticeably larger and more substituted than a plain nitrogen mustard.
3. Vincristine: This is a vinca alkaloid with a large, complex multi-ring structure built from two joined indole/indoline units, ester and hydroxyl groups, and several stereocenters. It looks nothing like a small nitrogen mustard fragment and is far bulkier than any of the alkylating agents listed here.
4. 6-Mercaptopurine: This is a purine analogue, a fused bicyclic ring system of a pyrimidine and imidazole ring with a thiol (-SH) group, entirely different from the open-chain, non-cyclic nitrogen mustard skeleton.

A structure showing the plain bis(2-chloroethyl)methylamine skeleton, with no aromatic ring, side chain, or fused ring system, points to the simplest nitrogen mustard among the four choices.

The correct answer is Mechlorethamine.