Prodrug not its intended target. This reduces adverse or unintended effects of a drug, especially important in treatments like chemotherapy, which can have severe unintended and undesirable side effects. Many herbal extracts historically used in medicine contain glycosides (sugar derivatives) of the active agent, which are hydrolyzed in the intestines to release the active and more bioavailable aglycone. For example, salicin is a β-D-glucopyranoside that is cleaved by esterases to release salicylic acid. Aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, first made by Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in 1897, is a synthetic prodrug of salicylic acid. However, in other cases, such as codeine and morphine,
Chorismic acid Chorismic acid Chorismic acid, more commonly known as its anionic form chorismate, is an important biochemical intermediate in plants and microorganisms. It is a precursor for: The name chorismic acid derives from a classical Greek word, "χωρίζω" meaning "to separate", because the compound plays a role as a branch-point in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. Shikimate → shikimate-3-phosphate → 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (5-O-(1-carboxyvinyl)-3-phosphoshikimate) Chorismate synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the final chemical reaction 5-O-(1-carboxyvinyl)-3-phosphoshikimate → chorismate + phosphate. Chorismate is transformed into "para"-aminobenzoic acid by the enzymes 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate synthase and 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyase. Chorismate lyase is an enzyme that transforms chorismate into 4-hydroxybenzoate