Chemical Properties
| Definition | A natural antibiotic produced by a Streptomyces strain. Discovered in Japan in the 1950s, it has strong antitumor potential, though its toxicity may preclude medical use. It is a member of the so-called bis-intercalator group of antibiotics that act by inter- locking between the nucleotide bases of DNA; thus, it may have mutagenic activity. The molecule con- tains carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The structure was elucidated in 1982. |
| Melting point | 219.5°C (rough estimate) |
| Boiling point | 671.87°C (rough estimate) |
| density | 1.3612 (rough estimate) |
| refractive index | 1.7800 (estimate) |
| CAS DataBase Reference | 1403-29-8 |