Abstract
IN a recent communication1, Wyngaarden, Woods and Seevers have shown that ‘Myanesin' administered intravenously to dogs appears in the urine mainly in combination with glycuronic acid, while a small amount is excreted without change. We have found that after intravenous administration to humans or rabbits, a portion is oxidized and excreted as α-hydroxy-β-(2-methylphenoxy)propionic acid. The acid may be isolated by acidifying the urine to pH 3, extracting with ether continuously for 24–48 hours, transferring from the ether extract into sodium bicarbonate solution and recovering from the aqueous solution by acidifying and extracting with ether. The ether-soluble product is crystallized first from carbon tetrachloride, then from water and finally from chloroform. The pure acid melts at 146–147° (corr.) (found: C, 61·2 ; H, 6·1 ; C10H12O4 requires C, 61·2 ; H, 6·1 per cent). The acid is not optically active. It is identical with the acid obtained by condensing o-cresol with β-chlorolactic acid (found : C, 61·1; H, 6.1 per cent).
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GRAVES, E., ELLIOTT, T. & BRADLEY, W. Metabolism of α : β-Dihydroxy-γ-(2-methyl-phenoxy)propane (‘Myanesin'). Nature 162, 257 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162257b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162257b0
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