Carbon sources of natural cyanamide in Vicia villosa subsp. varia

The 13C labels of [13C]carbon dioxide and D-[13C?]glucose were incorporated into cyanamide (NH?CN) when they were administered to Vicia villosa subsp. varia shoots. In contrast, the administration of sodium [2,3-13C?]pyruvate did not affect the relative area of the [M + 1]+ ion of cyanamide in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. [2,3-13C?]pyruvate was incorporated into organic acids that are part of the citric acid cycle, such as succinate and fumarate, confirming that the shoots absorbed and metabolised it. These observations demonstrated that the carbon atom of cyanamide is derived from any of the carbohydrates that are present upstream of pyruvate in the metabolic pathway.     

Evidence of cyanamide production in hairy vetch Vicia villosa

Cyanamide (NH(2)CN) has recently been isolated as a plant growth inhibitor from Vicia villosa, which is the first discovery of cyanamide from natural sources. To reveal the presence of the biosynthesized cyanamide in plants, 3.4 mM potassium ((15)N)nitrate was administered to 15- to 35-day-old plants of V. villosa, from which the cyanamide was purified and subjected to GC/MS analysis. The isotopic ratio (15)N/((14)N + (15)N) of the cyanamide was calculated to be 0.143, while that of the cyanamide extracted from V. villosa grown in the presence of a natural N source was 0.0065. The (15)N-enrichment proved de novo biosynthesis of cyanamide.     

Direct quantitative determination of cyanamide by stable isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Cyanamide is a multifunctional agrochemical used, for example, as a pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer. Recent research has revealed that cyanamide is a natural product biosynthesized in a leguminous plant, hairy vetch (Vicia villosa). In the present study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) equipped with a capillary column for amines was used for direct quantitative determination of cyanamide. Quantitative signals for ((14)N(2))cyanamide, ((15)N(2))cyanamide (internal standard for stable isotope dilution method), and m-(trifluoromethyl)benzonitrile (internal standard for correcting errors in GC-MS analysis) were recorded as peak areas on mass chromatograms at m/z 42 (A(42)), 44 (A(44)), and 171 (A(IS)), respectively. Total cyanamide content, ((14)N(2))cyanamide plus ((15)N(2))cyanamide, was determined as a function of (A(42)+A(44))/A(IS). Contents of ((14)N(2))cyanamide and ((15)N(2))cyanamide were then calculated by multiplying the total cyanamide content by A(42)/(A(42)+A(44)) and A(44)/(A(42)+A(44)), respectively. The limit of detection for the total cyanamide content by the GC-MS analysis was around 1ng. The molar ratio of ((14)N(2))cyanamide to ((15)N(2))cyanamide in the injected sample was equal to the observed A(42)/A(44) value in the range from 0.1 to 5. It was, therefore, possible to use the stable isotope dilution method to quantify the natural cyanamide content in samples; i.e., the natural cyanamide content was derived by subtracting the A(42)/A(44) ratio of the internal standard from the A(42)/A(44) ratio of sample spiked with internal standard, and then multiplying the resulting difference by the amount of added ((15)N(2))cyanamide (SID-GC-MS method). This method successfully gave a reasonable value for the natural cyanamide content in hairy vetch, concurring with the value obtained by a conventional method in which cyanamide was derivatized to a photometrically active compound 4-cyanimido-1,2-naphthoquinone and analyzed with reversed-phase HPLC (CNQ-HPLC method). The determination range of cyanamide in the SID-GC-MS method was almost the same as that in the CNQ-HPLC method; however, the SID-GC-MS method was much simpler than the CNQ-HPLC method.     

Determination of the absolute configuration of the male aggregation pheromone, 2-methyl-6-(4′-methylenebicyclo[3.1.0]hexyl)hept-2-en-1-ol, of the stink bug Erysarcoris lewisi (Distant) as 2Z,6R,1′S,5′S by its synthesis

Lipase-catalyzed asymmetric acetylation of a mixture of (6R,1′S,4′S,5′R)- and (6R,1′R,4′R,5′S)-7′-norsesquisabinen-4′-ol (3) afforded a separable mixture of the recovered former and the acetate of the latter. The recovered alcohol was oxidized to (6R,1′S,5′R)-sesquisabina ketone (2), whose absolute configuration could be assigned by its CD comparison with (1R,5S)-sabina ketone (4). Conversion of (6R,1′S,5′R)-sesquisabina ketone (2) to the bioactive pheromone revealed the stereostructure of the male aggregation pheromone of the stink bug Erysarcoris lewisi (Distant) to be (2Z,6R,1′S,5′S)-2-methyl-6-(4′-methylenebicyclo[3.1.0]hexyl)hept-2-en-1-ol (sesquisabinen-1-ol, 1).