Stoffwechselprodukte von Mikroorganismen. 218. Mitteilung. Versuche zur Strukturaufklärung von Niphimycin, 1. Teil. Reinigung und Charakterisierung der Niphimycine Iα und Iβ sowie Abbau mit Salpetersäure

On the Structure Elucidation of Niphimycin, Part I. Purification and Characterization of the Niphimycins Iα and Ib?; Degradation by Nitric Acid From a sample of niphimycin the pure components, niphimycin Iα and Ib?, were isolated by column chromatography and droplet counter-current chromatography. They were characterized by UV., IR., ¹H-NMR. (300 MHz) and ¹³C-NMR. spectra. A vigorous degradation of niphimycin with nitric acid, followed by esterification with diazomethane, gave a complex mixture, from which many components could be isolated and identified. Several of the degradation products were synthesized, one of them (dimethyl 2,4-dimethyladipate) in a stereospecific manner, establishing the configuration of two of the centers of chirality of niphimycin. Niphithricin was identified with copiamycin and yielded with nitric acid a degradation mixture very similar to that from niphimycin. The structures of the degradation products are in good agreement with a macrolide-type structure of niphimycin and copiamycin. Further work for structure elucidation of niphimycin and copiamycin is in progress.