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Chemistry of Antibiotics and Related Drugs pp 1–25Cite as

Introduction to Antibiotics

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This chapter is an introduction to antibiotics. Topics discussed are definition of antibiotics, characteristics of an ideal antibiotic, history of antibiotics, discovery of the first antibiotics, penicillin, gramicidin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, etc. Background biochemistry information needed for understanding mechanisms of action of antibiotics is presented. This includes brief discussions on enzymes, inhibitors, and thermodynamics of metabolic pathways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Mrinal K. Bhattacharjee

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  1. Mrinal K. Bhattacharjee
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Bhattacharjee, M.K. (2016). Introduction to Antibiotics. In: Chemistry of Antibiotics and Related Drugs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40746-3_1

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