Abstract
CEPHALOSPORIN N, an antibiotic produced by a species of Cephalosporium, was recently reported to be a new type of penicillin. The physical properties of this substance indicated that it contained a basic group as well as acidic groups1. The purest preparation of cephalosporin N so far obtained, which appears from analysis of a counter-current distribution curve to be at least 50 per cent homogeneous, has now been found to yield D-α-aminoadipic acid on hydrolysis. While L-α-aminoadipic acid is known to occur in Nature2,3, the D-isomer does not appear to have been isolated previously from a natural source.
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NEWTON, G., ABRAHAM, E. Isolation of Penicillaminic Acid and D-α-Aminoadipic Acid from Cephalosporin N. Nature 172, 395 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/172395a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/172395a0
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