No Added Chemicals

It was orginally extracted from a bacterium Streptomyces nodosus in 1955 at the Squibb Institute of Medical Research. This compound is called amphotericin B and now it is listed on the World Health Organisation's List of Essential Medicine , which is the list of the most important medications needed in basic health. Amphotericin B works as antifungal drug and is often used intravenously for systemic fungal infections. The name of amphotericin B is derived from its amphoteric property.

Fe is known as the most abundant metal in the human body and it also comes with variety of functions such as haemoglobin ( O 2 transport in blood), myoglobin ( O 2 storage in muscle), cytochrome c (electron transfer), catalase (metabolism of H 2 O 2 ), and ribonucleotide reductase (transformation of RNA to DNA). Left to right: Haemoglobin, myoglobin, catalase, and ribonucletide reductase However, there are two major problems associated with handling it in biological system. Firstly, in aqueous environment, the stable oxidation state of Fe is Fe(III) which precipitates as the insoluble hydrated oxide [FeO(OH) ] n or rust. Besides that, free iron is also toxic as traces of high-spin Fe(II) generates superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals which are highly reactive and damage cells. Therefore, whole process of Fe transport and storage keeps Fe under very close control; concentration of free iron in mammals is around 10 -24 M.

Cytochrome P450 from Pseudomonas putida Cytochrome P450 is another example of metalloproteins that has Fe-porphyrin complex and the name P450 arieses from the absorption maximun of Fe-CO adduct at 450 nm. P450 acts as an oxidising agent and it can oxidise relatively inert and unreactive organic substrates by transfer of a single O atom. This process is known as 'mono-oxygenase' activity and it is essential for both oxidation of natural 'endegenous' products as part of metabolism and oxidation of foreign 'xenobiotic' toxins as part of their destruction. However, this activity is not selective so it can also turn relatively harmless compounds into harmful ones. Furthermore, this such control controlled oxidation of unreactive hydrocarbon under mild conditions is different in synthetic chemistry.

It is a common misconception that there is a mysterious property of organic compounds that made life possible. The pioneering research by Friedrich Wohler on the conversion ammonium cyanate to urea broke this 'vital force dogma'. In the human body, it contains around 1 kg of essential metals per 75 kg adult, from Ca as the most abundant in the body (1050 g) to some transition metals (mainly the first row transition metals). The transition metal ions are bound in proteins to give metalloproteins. Although the molecules may be complex but principles are familiar from basic coordination chemistry. A metallprotein is just a big coordination complex in which the protein acts as a polydentate ligand, controlling environment around, and behaviour of, metal ion. The main focus for this time is on the oxygen transport system in haemoglobin/myoglobin and haemocyanin. Left to right: haemoglobin, myoglobin, haemocyanin