It is something amazing to realize that boromycin, an antibiotic now relied upon to combat the so-called "Superbugs" had it roots from the poverty of the father of boron studies (organoboron chemistry). In a previous article, we mentioned boromycin as an antibiotic effective against most Gram-positive bacteria. It is however ineffective against Gram-negative bacteria, where most of many super bugs belong. Boromycin was noted as the first natural product found to contain boron. Boron is not abundant in nature, be it in the solar system or the Earth’s crust. It occurs as borate minerals, from where it is evaporated as borax or kernite. First isolation of boromycin came from Streptomyces antibioticus, a bacterial strain discovered in 1890. From these bacteria another antibiotic known as Actinomycin also came from. (G. H. Jones: Journal of Bacteriology, Dec 1987) Also known as N-formulboromycin, the antibiotic is a D-valine ester of boric acid, wrote J. D. Dunitz in a report
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