Saxitoxin

Saxitoxin
Skeletal formula
Ball-and-stick model
Space-filling model
Names
IUPAC name
[(3aS,4R,10aS)-10,10-dihydroxy-2,6-diiminooctahydro-1H,8H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]purin-4-yl]methyl carbamate
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.160.395 Edit this at Wikidata
KEGG
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C10H17N7O4/c11-6-15-5-4(3-21-8(13)18)14-7(12)17-2-1-9(19,20)10(5,17)16-6/h4-5,19-20H,1-3H2,(H2,12,14)(H2,13,18)(H3,11,15,16)/t4-,5-,10-/m0/s1 ☒N
    Key: RPQXVSUAYFXFJA-HGRQIUPRSA-N ☒N
  • InChI=1/C10H17N7O4/c11-6-15-5-4(3-21-8(13)18)14-7(12)17-2-1-9(19,20)10(5,17)16-6/h4-5,19-20H,1-3H2,(H2,12,14)(H2,13,18)(H3,11,15,16)/t4-,5-,10-/m0/s1
    Key: RPQXVSUAYFXFJA-HGRQIUPRBO
  • O=C(OC[C@@H]2/N=C(/N)N3[C@]1(/N=C(\N[C@H]12)N)C(O)(O)CC3)N
Properties
C10H17N7O4
Molar mass 299.291 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent neurotoxin and the best-known paralytic shellfish toxin. Ingestion of saxitoxin by humans, usually by consumption of shellfish contaminated by toxic algal blooms, is responsible for the illness known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).

The term saxitoxin originates from the genus name of the butter clam (Saxidomus) from which it was first isolated. But the term saxitoxin can also refer to the entire suite of more than 50 structurally related neurotoxins (known collectively as "saxitoxins") produced by protists, algae and cyanobacteria which includes saxitoxin itself (STX), neosaxitoxin (NSTX), gonyautoxins (GTX) and decarbamoylsaxitoxin (dcSTX).

Saxitoxin has a large environmental and economic impact, as its presence in bivalve shellfish such as mussels, clams, oysters and scallops frequently leads to bans on commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting in many temperate coastal waters around the world including the Northeastern and Western United States, Western Europe, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In the United States, paralytic shellfish poisoning has occurred in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and New England.