Penny le Couteur & Jay Burreson by Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History

Author:Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History [History, Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Philosophy & Social Aspects, Science, General, World, Chemistry, Popular Works, History
ISBN: 9781585423316
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2003-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

Folic acid with the middle portion from the p-aminobenzoic acid molecule outlined

Consider just the part of its structure shown inside the outlined box in the structure above. This middle portion of the folic acid molecule is derived (in bacteria that make their own folic acid) from a smaller molecule, p-aminobenzoic acid. p-Aminobenzoic acid is thus an essential nutrient for these microorganisms.

The chemical structures of p-aminobenzoic acid and sulfanilamide are remarkably similar in shape and size, and it is this similarity that accounts for the antimicrobial activity of sulfanilamide. The lengths (as indicated by the square brackets) of each of these molecules measured from the hydrogen of the NH2 group to the doubly bonded oxygen atom are within 3 percent of each other. As well they have almost the same width.

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