althiomycin althiomycin althiomycin (matamycin) is a thiazole antibiotic, effective against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. the name matamycin is from "mata hari" and the suffix -mycin. althiomycin names iupac name n-ethyl]-2-(nitrosomethylidene)-3h-1,3-thiazole-4-carboxamide other names altiomycin; matamycin identifiers cas number 12656-40-5 3d model (jsmol) interactive image chemspider 4576669 pubchem cid 5464477 inchi inchi=1s/c16h17n5o6s2/c1-27-8-2-13(23)21(4-8)16(25)11-7-29-15(20-11)9(5-22)19-14(24)10-6-28-12(18-10)3-17-26/h2-3,6,9,11,18,22h,4-5,7h2,1h3,(h,19,24)key: nzgoihzotajjcd-uhfffaoysa-n smiles coc1=cc(=o)n(c1)c(=o)1csc(=n1)(co)nc(=o)c1=csc(\c=n\o)=n1 properties chemical formula c16h17n5o6s2 molar mass 439.46 g·mol−1 except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °c , 100 kpa). infobox references isolated from streptomyces matensis, the compound was first described by margalith et al. in 1959. it acts a protein synthesis inhibitor and its site of action is the 50s subunit of the bacterial ribosome.