Chloramphenicol succinate is prepared by acylation of chloramphenicol with succinic anhydride to provide a water soluble pro-drug. Chloramphenicol succinate represents an alternative pro-drug strategy for chloramphenicol that has found a niche in surface antibiotic treatment in surgery. Chloramphenicol succinate is significantly less active than chloramphenicol but acts as a prodrug, forming chloramphenicol in the presence of succinate dehydrogenase.