[Adamh]

Hi, I have done quite a bit of looking about and i'm aware that there are many forms of penicillin...
While looking at the base structure of penicillin i have found two different kinds... At a guess i'd say one is synthetic and one is natural form?

Could someone possibly clear this up for me? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Here are the two pictures of the chem structures, i need to know which is the main base for Pen...

Number 1 -


Number 2 -

[Doc Oc]

Those are both the same molecule, the stereochemistry is just represented differently in each one.  Like the difference between a cursive letter "a" and a printed letter "a", they're different ways of representing the same thing.

[Adamh]

Those are both the same molecule, the stereochemistry is just represented differently in each one.  Like the difference between a cursive letter "a" and a printed letter "a", they're different ways of representing the same thing.

Thats bizarre, Thank you!!! - The reason i wanted to know is that i am getting it as a tattoo to resemble my allergy... I'm aware not everyone knows what it means, more of a thing for myself though

Thanks again
Adam

[ardbeg]

The R group on the left is different in each molecule though.  The bottom structure includes the carbonyl group of the amide linkage.  If you are going to get a chemistry tat, remember you can visualize the molecule in a large variety of images!