Amygdalin
Amygdalin, C20H27NO11, is a glycoside initially isolated from the seeds of the tree
Prunus dulcis, also known as bitter almonds, by Pierre-Jean Robiquet and Antoine Boutron-Charlard, in 1830 and subsequently investigated by Liebig and Wöhler in 1830. Several other related species in the genus of
Prunus, including apricot and black cherry, also contain amygdalin. Since the early 1950s, both amygdalin and a modified form named
laetrile or
Vitamin B17 have been promoted as cancer cures. However, neither of these compounds nor any other derivatives are vitamins in any sense, and studies have found them to be clinically ineffective in the treatment of cancer, as well as dangerously toxic. They are potentially lethal when taken by mouth, because certain enzymes act on them to produce cyanide. The promotion of laetrile to treat cancer has been described in the medical literature as a canonical example of quackery, and as "the slickest, most sophisticated, and certainly the most remunerative cancer quack promotion in medical history."...