Gentamicin

Gentamicin is a mixture of relatively equal amounts of three natural aminoglycosides, gentamicin C₁, gen-tamicin C₂, and gentamicin C_1a, produced by Micromonospora (M. purpurea and M. echinospora) (Weinstein et al., 1964). The three components are structurally related to the other natural aminog-lycosides, streptomycin, kanamycin, neomycin, tobramycin, and sisomicin. The molecular formulas for gentamcin C₁, C₂, and C_1a are C₂₁H₄₃N₅O₇, C₂₀H₄₁N₅O₇, and C₁₉H₃₉N₅O₇, respectively; the corresponding molecular weights are 477, 463, and 449. Gentamicin is used clinically as the sulfate salt. The molecular structure of gentamicin is shown in Figure 52.1. Like other aminoglycosides, gentamicin is characterized by having an aminocyclitol nucleus linked to amino sugars through glycosidic bonds. Figure 52.1 Molecular structure of gentamicin. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315152110/08d8042d-9481-4a8d-8c27-9bd589f6de6b/content/fig52_1.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>