New antiviral antibiotics, kistamicins A and B. II. Structure determination

The structures of antiviral antibiotics kistamicins A and B have been determined by a combination of chemical degradation and spectral analysis. They are commonly composed of D-tyrosine, 3,5-dihydrophenylglycine, a biphenyl ether bis-amino acid, and a diphenyl substituted indole tris-amino acid, forming a tricyclic ring structure. Kistamicin B possessed a phenethylamide at the amino terminal of kistamicin A. They are structurally related to the nuclei of the vancomycin group antibiotics particularly to antibiotic complestatin.