Abstract
MANY new amino- and imino-acids have been identified recently as plant constituents. A number of these newer compounds can be regarded as derivatives of either glutamic acid or glutamine, in which substituents occur on the carboxyl, amino or amido groups, or on the β- or γ-carbon atoms. The related compounds, aspartic acid and asparagine, are not known to form an analogous, extensive range of substituted derivatives. Now, however, N-ethyl-asparagine has been isolated from Ecballium elaterium (the squirting cucumber). Its relationship to theanine (II), isolated by Sakato1 from tea leaves, is seen below:
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References
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GRAY, D., FOWDEN, L. N-Ethyl-L-Asparagine: a New Amino-Acid Amide from Ecballium . Nature 189, 401–402 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/189401a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/189401a0
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