Asparagine

ASPARAGINE, C4H8N2O3, a naturally occurring base, found in plants belonging to the natural orders Leguminosae and ASPARAGUS— ASP ASIA Crucifcrac. It occurs in two optically active forms, namely, as laevo-osparaginc and dcxtro-asparaginc. Laevo-asparagine was isolated in 1805 by L. N. Vauquclin. A. 1'iutti (Gaa. ekim. lid., 1887, 17, p. 126; 1888, 18, p. 457) synthesized the asparagincs from the monomcthyl ester of inactive aspartic acid by heating it with .iliuholic ammonia. In this way a mixture of the two asparagincs was obtained, which were separated by picking out the hrmihedral crystals.