Bohemic acid is a mixture of chemical compounds which is obtained through fermentation by actinobacteria species in the genus Actinosporangium (Actinoplanaceae).
The acid can be extracted from the fermentation broth with methyl isobutyl ketone under neutral or slightly basic pH conditions, and the fats and oils are removed by washing with petroleum ether.
[1] Chromatographical separation, in addition to the antibiotics pyrromycin and cinerubin A and B, reveals several individual components of bohemic acid, including alcindoromycin, bohemamine, collinemycin, marcellomycin, mimimycin, musettamycin, rudolphomycin and schaunardimycin.
[6] The individual components of bohemic acid are orange-red solids, the color originating from an optical absorption band centered at about 490 nm.
[9][10][11][12] The median lethal dose (LD50) of marcellomycin depends strongly on the animal and varies from a few mg/kg of body weight (dogs) to 20 mg/kg (Suiss-Webster mice, intravenal injection), the major site of toxicity being the gastrointestinal tract.