The structure of citrinin in vivo
Abstract
1 H- and 13C-N.m.r. spectroscopy have been used to show that in aqueous solution at physiological pH the antibiotic citrinin exists not as the quinone methide (1) but as a diastereoisomeric mixture of hydrates. The equilibrium between the two diastereoisomers is slow, suggesting that citrinin, which is believed to interact with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), does not act as a simple Michael acceptor in vivo. Neither does citrinin intercalate into DNA.