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JCE Featured Molecules
William F. Coleman Wellesley College Wellesley, MA 02481
Shikimic Acid April Featured Molecule The molecule for this month comes from the article “Isolation of Shikimic Acid from Star Aniseed” by Richard Payne and Michael Edmonds (pages 599–600). Shikimic acid plays a key role in the biosynthesis of many important natural products including aromatic amino acids, alkaloids, phenolics, and phenylpropanoids. It plays such an important role that one of the key biosynthetic pathways is referred to as the shikimate pathway. Fully manipulable (Chime) versions of these and other molecules are available at the Only@JCE Online Web site:
shikimic acid
http://www.JCE.DivCHED.org/JCEWWW/Features/ MonthlyMolecules/2005/Apr
656
Journal of Chemical Education
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Vol. 82 No. 4 April 2005
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www.JCE.DivCHED.org