Actually,teicoplanin is a mixture of several compounds, five major and four
minor. All teicoplanins share a same
glycopeptide core, termed teicoplanin
A3-1 — a fused ring structure to which two carbohydrates are attached. The
major and minor components also involve a third carbohydrate moiety —
β-D-glucosamine — and differ only by the length and conformation of a
side-chain attached to it.
Teicoplanin makes up of a group of five structures which possess a common
aglycone, or core, consisting of seven amino acids which are bound by peptide
and ether bonds to form a four ring system. These five structures differ by the
identity of the fatty acyl side-chain attached to the sugar. The origin of
these seven amino acids in the biosynthesis of teicoplanin was studied by 1H and 13C NMR. In particular, teicoplanin contains
4-hydroxyphenylglycine and 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine residues, a chlorine atom
attached on each of the tyrosine residues, and three sugar moieties, N-fatty
acyl-β-D-glucosamine, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine, and D-mannose.
