Abstract
In 1818, the Italian Brugnatelli obtained a substance from the oxidation of uric acid that he named ossieritrico. This name, from the Greek “to make red,” referred to the property of the substance to stain the skin a characteristic red color.1 Twenty years later, the German chemists, Wöhler and Liebig, studied uric acid oxidation in detail and obtained the same compound, which they named alloxan, apparently from conflation of the words allantoin and Oxalsäure.2 The early history of alloxan has been reviewed in detail elsewhere.3 Alloxan became generally accepted as the common name for this substance. The compound as synthesized via aqueous workup is a so-called hydrate, actually a gem-diol. The systematic name of this substance is 5,5,-dihydroxy-2,4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H)-pyrimidinetrione.
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References
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© 1996 Birkhäuser Boston
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Lenzen, S., Tiedge, M., Jörns, A., Munday, R. (1996). Alloxan derivatives as a tool for the elucidation of the mechanism of the diabetogenic action of alloxan. In: Shafrir, E. (eds) Lessons from Animal Diabetes VI. Rev.Ser.Advs.Research Diab.Animals (Birkhäuser), vol 6. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4112-6_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4112-6_8
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