glucosamine Chem.
(gl(j)uːˈkəʊzəmiːn, -səmiːn)
[f. gluco- after glycosamine.]
Any amino-sugar derived from glucose by substitution of an amino group for a hydroxyl group; spec. 2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucose. Cf. glycosamine.
| 1884 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XLVI. 724 G. Ledderhose gave the name glucosamine hydrochloride to a crystalline substance, C6H13NO5, HCl, obtained by boiling chitin with concentrated hydrochloric acid. 1956 [see galactosamine]. 1957 W. Pigman Carbohydrates viii. 465 The N-methyl derivative of l-glucosamine (the enantiomorph of the common d-glucosamine) has been isolated from the degradation product of streptomycin. 1959 H. S. Goldberg Antibiotics ii. 140 The third moiety in the hydrolyzates of kanamycin B yields a ninhydrin-positive reducing test, but it is not 6-glucosamine present in kanamycin itself. 1967 Cantarow & Schepartz Biochem. (ed. 4) ii. 21 Glucosamine, also called ‘chitosamine’, is the basic unit in the polysaccharide, chitin, which forms part of the integument of arthropods. 1969 [see galactosamine]. |