Tiacumicins, a novel complex of 18-membered macrolides. II. Isolation and structure determination.

A novel complex of Gram-positive antibiotics has been isolated from the fermentation broth and mycelium of Dactylosporangium aurantiacum subsp. hamdenesis subsp. nov. The structures of these six compounds were deduced employing UV, MS, IR, and extensive 1D and 2D homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR experiments. Each component contained a highly unsaturated 18-membered macrolide ring. Components differed from one another by minor structural variations in the macrolide ring and by the number and esterification pattern of glycosidically bound sugars.