The semisynthetic acetate rayon, produced by acetylation of chemical cellulose, has 200 300 glucose units with 75 percent of the hydroxyl groups converted to acetates.
After several years of controversy, Bristol-Myers Squibb adopted a semisynthetic process for making taxol.
By adding certain chemical groups to this molecule, several different semisynthetic penicillins are produced that vary in resistance to degradation by β-lactamase (penicillinase), an enzyme that specifically breaks the β-lactam ring, thereby inactivating the antibiotic.
The penicillins can be divided into two groups: the naturally occurring penicillins (penicillin G, penicillin V, and benzathine penicillin) and the semisynthetic penicillins.
The semisynthetic derivative of morphine, heroin, is an even more powerful hypnotic and a highly addictive drug.
Toward the end of the 1950s scientists experimented with the addition of various chemical groups to the core of the penicillin molecule to generate semisynthetic versions.
The semisynthetic penicillins are produced by growing the mold Penicillium under conditions whereby only the basic molecule (6-aminopenicillanic acid) is produced.
Scientists continued to look for means of obtaining new varieties of penicillin, and their researches produced the so-called semisynthetic antibiotics, some of which are active when taken by mouth, while others are effective against microorganisms that have developed resistance to the earlier form of penicillin.
Aminoglycoside, any of several natural and semisynthetic compounds that are used to treat bacterial diseases.
The several kinds of penicillin synthesized by various species of the mold Penicillium may be divided into two classes: the naturally occurring penicillins (those formed during the process of mold fermentation) and the semisynthetic penicillins (those in which the structure of a chemical substance 6-aminopenicillanic acid—found in all penicillinsubstance 6-aminopenicillanic.
Rifampin, a semisynthetic agent, is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, penetrates tissue well (including the lung), and is used in the treatment of tuberculosis.
