Fortschritte der Chemie Organischer Naturstoffe / Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products

The cyanogenic glycosides, here defined as glycosidic derivatives of iX-hydroxynitriles, represent a rather limited class of natural products, which are widely distributed in the plant kingdom and, to a small ex­ tent, even in animals. A characteristic feature of these glycosides is their ability to release hydrocyanic acid on treatment with dilute acids or appropriate enzymes. The term "cyanogeni...