Biochemical studies of toxic agents. 14. The biosynthesis of ethylmercapturic acid

Abstract

N-Acetyl-S-ethyl-L-cysteine (ethylmercapturic acid) has been prepared by 3 methods and some of its properties have been reported. The excretion of ethylmercapturic acid by rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and mice after they have been injected subcutaneously with bromoethane has been demonstrated by paper-chromatographic examination of the urine. In rats and mice this finding has been confirmed by radiochromatographic methods. Ethylmercapturic acid has been isolated in the form of its dicyclohexyl-ammonium salt from the urine of rats dosed with bromoethane by subcutaneous injection. S-Ethyl-L-cysteine has been shown by chromatographic and radiochromatographic methods to be converted into ethylmercapturic acid in rats, and the mercapturic acid has been isolated from the urine of dosed animals.