...Maitotoxin’s physiological effects have been known for decades. It can cause ciguatera, a common form of seafood poisoning that can result from eating Pacific Ocean coral reef fish. Scientists isolated the compound from the gut of the striated surgeonfish – maito in Tahitian, hence the molecule’s name – but later found that it is not the fish producing the neurotoxin but the plankton species Gambierdiscus toxicus, that surgeonfish feed on. However, maitotoxin’s chemical structure remained elusive until, in 1993, Japanese researchers isolated minute amounts of the mystery molecule from cultured G. toxicus and fully characterised it by two- and three-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance [NMR]... ►rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/01/chemistry-grandest-total-synthesis-challenge-maitotoxin-put-hold-lack-funds
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 02:13:52 +0000
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