Page 83 - Pharmaceutical Organic Chemmistry-3 (Theoritical book) 24-25

Clinical Pharmacy PharmD - 2024/2025 Level 2 Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry-3 (PC 305)

Carbohydrate Antibiotics

One of the important discoveries in carbohydrate chemistry was the isolation (in

1944) of the carbohydrate antibiotic called streptomycin. Streptomycin disrupts

bacterial protein synthesis. Its structure is made up of the following three subunits:

All three components are unusual: The amino sugar is based on L-glucose;

streptose is a branched-chain monosaccharide; and streptidine is not a sugar at all,

but a cyclohexane derivative called an amino cyclitol.

• Other members of this family are antibiotics called kanamycins, neomycins,
and gentamicins.