Vancomycin. Hydrolysis and oxidation studies.

peptide type structure and showedthat the molecule contained two covalent chlorine atoms assuming a molecular weight of 1,650. Titration indicated the presence of carboxyl, amino, and phenolic groups. Further studies3*4) showed that the second amino-acid was D-N-methylleucine and that there was one glucose and one aspartic acid unit in the vancomycin molecule of molecular weight 1,650. Prolonged acid treatment of vancomycin yielded laevulinic acid, 'vancomycin acid', CH3-CH2-CO-CH(CH3)-CH2-CO2H, and oxidation with nitric acid gave a high yield of 2-chloro-4,6-