Erythromycin: New chemistry on an old compound

Abstract

Although Erythromycin A (Ery A) IA has been known for over 40 years(1) some of the chemical properties of this fermentation product are only now being revealed. For example, the acid degradation mechanism was studied in 1971(2). It was thought to proceed through the enol ether II ultimately to anhydroerythromycin A III as recently as 1986(3). In 1989(4), a more detailed kinetic study suggested that there is an equilibrium between IA and II coupled to a direct conversion from IA to III. We have confirmed this finding with a simple deuterium labelling experiment. © 1994 IUPAC