Editing Amygdalin (section)

==== Early usage ====
Amygdalin was first isolated in 1830 from [[bitter almond]] seeds (''[[Prunus dulcis]]'') by [[Pierre-Jean Robiquet]] and [[Antoine François Boutron Charlard|Antoine Boutron-Charlard]].<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = von Sengbusch P |title=A chronology of significant historical developments in the biological sciences |work=Botany Online Internet Hypertextbook |publisher=[[University of Hamburg]], Department of Biology |date=18 August 2002 |url=http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e01/geschichte.htm |access-date=6 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820063617/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e01/geschichte.htm |archive-date=20 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Justus von Liebig|Liebig]] and [[Friedrich Woehler|Wöhler]] found three [[hydrolysis]] products of amygdalin: sugar, benzaldehyde, and [[hydrogen cyanide]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=Ueber die Bildung des Bittermandelöls | vauthors = Wöhler F, Liebig J | journal=Annalen der Pharmacie | year=1837 | volume=22 | issue=1 | pages=1–24 | doi=10.1002/jlac.18370220102|s2cid=96869201 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1426920 }}</ref> Later research showed that [[sulfuric acid]] hydrolyzes it into [[D-glucose|<small>D</small>-glucose]], benzaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide; while [[hydrochloric acid]] gives [[mandelic acid]], <small>D</small>-glucose, and [[ammonia]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=The hydrolysis of amygdalin by acids. Part I | vauthors = Walker JW, Krieble VK | journal=[[Journal of the Chemical Society]] | year=1909 | volume=95 | issue=11 | pages=1369–77 | doi=10.1039/CT9099501369}}</ref>

In 1845 amygdalin was used as a cancer treatment in Russia, and in the 1920s in the United States, but it was considered too poisonous.<ref name=CancerInstitute/> In the 1950s, a purportedly non-toxic, synthetic form was patented for use as a meat preservative,<ref name=patent>{{Cite patent| inventor = Krebs Jr ET | pubdate = 23 May 1961 | title = Hexuronic acid derivatives | url = http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2985664.html | country = US | number = 2985664 | gdate = 23 May 1961 }}</ref> and later marketed as laetrile for cancer treatment.<ref name=CancerInstitute/>

The [[U.S. Food and Drug Administration]] prohibited the interstate shipment of amygdalin and laetrile in 1977.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Carpenter D |title= Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA. Princeton: Princeton University Press.|year=2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton|isbn=978-0-691-14180-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kennedy D |date= 1977 | url = http://www.cancertreatmentwatch.org/q/laetrile/commissioner.pdf | title = Laetrile: The Commissioner's Decision | journal = [[Federal Register]] | volume = Docket No. 77-22310}}</ref> Thereafter, 27 U.S. states legalized the use of amygdalin within those states.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = <!-- Not listed --> | title = Unproven methods of cancer management. Laetrile | journal = CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians | publisher = American Cancer Society | volume = 41 | issue = 3 | pages = 187–192 |date= 1991 | pmid = 1902140 | doi = 10.3322/canjclin.41.3.187 | s2cid = 5932239 | doi-access = free }}</ref>