the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Asparagine
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or C4H8N203, a naturally occurring base, found in plants belonging to the natural orders Leguminosae and Cruciferae. It occurs in two optically active forms, namely, as laevo-asparagine and dextro-asparagine. Laevo-asparagine was isolated in 1805 by L. N. Vauquelin. A. Piutti (Gazz. chim. Ital., 1887, 17, p. 126; 1888, 18, p. 457) synthesized the asparagines from the monomethyl ester of inactive aspartic acid by heating it with alcoholic ammonia. In this way a mixture of the two asparagines was obtained, which were separated by picking out the hemihedral crystals.
[[HoocChNh2Ch2Cooc2h5h-Nh3 = C 2 H 5 Oh +H000Ch]]NH2CH2CONH2. Laevo-asparagine is slightly soluble in cold water and readily soluble in hot water. It crystallizes in prisms, containing one molecule of water of crystallization, the anhydrous form melting at 234-235° C. Nitrous acid converts it into malic acid, [[HoocChohCh 2 Cooh]]. It is laevo-rotatory in aqueous or in alkaline solution, and dextro-rotatory in acid solution (L. Pasteur, Ann.Chim. Phys., 1851 [21, 31, p. 67). Dextro-asparagine was first found in 1886 in the shoots of the vetch (Piutti). It forms rhombic crystals possessing a sweet taste. It is dextrorotatory in aqueous or alkaline solution, and laevo-rotatory in acid solution.
Hydrolysis by means of acids or alkalis converts the asparagines into aspartic acid; whilst on heating with water in a sealed tube they are converted into ammonium aspartate. The constitution of the asparagines has been determined by A. Piutti (Gazz. chim. Ital., 1888, 18, p. 457).
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Asparagine'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/a/asparagine.html. 1910.
