Abstract
One hundred and sixteen milligrams of crystalline β-hydroxyasparagine were isolated from 200 liters of normal adult male urine and identified as a normal constituent of human urine. It gave a specific orange color reaction with ninhydrin on a paper chromatogram, and its Rf values were 0.12 and 0.23 in n-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:1) and 800% phenol. Its spatial configuration is now under investigation. Several other species of manmals which have been examined in the authors' laboratory were also proved to excrete the acid.
The authors are grateful to Prof. T. Yoritaka of Nagasaki University and Prof. S. Akabori of Osaka University for their constant interest and encouragement.
