Towards the Core Structure of Strychnos Alkaloids Using Samarium Diiodide‐Induced Reactions of Indole Derivatives

This report describes the development of a first and second generation approach towards the synthesis of the ABCEG pentacyclic core structure of Strychnos alkaloids. First, we discuss a sequential approach applying a series of functional group transformations to prepare suitable precursors for cyclization reactions. These include attempts of samarium diiodide‐induced cyclizations or a Barbier‐type reaction of a transient lithium organyl, which successfully led to a tetracyclic key building block earlier used for the synthesis of strychnine. Secondly, we account our first steps towards the development of an atom‐economical samarium diiodide‐induced cascade reaction using “dimeric” indolyl ketones as cyclization precursors. In this context, we discuss plausible mechanisms for the samarium diiodide‐induced cascade reaction as well as transformations of the obtained tetracyclic dihydroindoline derivatives.     

Three New C19‐Diterpenoid Alkaloids from Aconitum forrestii

A further study of the alkaloid constituents of Aconitum forrestii led to the isolation of three new C₁₉‐diterpenoid alkaloids, named 14‐acetoxy‐8‐O‐methylsachaconitine ( 1 ), 14‐acetoxyscaconine ( 2 ), and 8‐O‐ethylcammaconine ( 3 ). Their structures were determined by UV, IR, and MS, 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR analyses.     

Nonaqueous CE ESI‐IT‐MS analysis of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids

The Amaryllidaceae are widely distributed medical plants. Lycorine, lycoramine, lycoremine, and lycobetaine are the major active alkaloids in Amaryllidaceae plants. A nonaqueous CE ESI‐IT‐MS method for separation, identification, and quantification of the Amaryllidaceae alkaloids has been developed. The MS^1–3 behavior has been studied and the fragmentation pathways of main fragment ions have been proposed. The effects of several factors such as composition and concentration of buffer, applied voltage, composition, and flow rate of the sheath liquid, nebulizing gas pressure, flow rate, and temperature of drying gas were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the linear concentration range of these compounds was wide with the correlation coefficient (R²) >0.99. RSDs of migration time and peak areas were <10%. The LODs were <240 ng/mL. The proposed method can be successfully applied to the determination of the related alkaloids in the Lycoris radiata roots.     

Simultaneous quantitation of seven alkaloids in processed Fuzi decoction by rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid analytical method based on rapid resolution LC coupled with MS/MS was first established to quantify seven alkaloids in processed Fuzi decoction. The chromatographic method was optimized to allow simultaneous analysis of all analytes in 5 min and demonstrated good linearity (r > 0.9995), repeatability (RSD < 4.36%), intra‐ and interday precisions (RSD < 5.07%) with good accuracies (97.76–105.08%) and good recovery (95.0–107.5%) of seven alkaloids, namely higenamine, benzoylhypaconine, benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine, aconitine, hypaconitine, and mesaconitine. The LODs for these markers were in the range of 2.30–17.00 pg/mL. Quantitative analysis of the seven alkaloids in Baifupian decoction and Heishunpian decoction showed that the content of the seven marker chemicals varied significantly and concluded that the quality of Fuzi was greatly affected by different processed methods. The developed method could be used as a rapid, sensitive, and reliable approach for assessment of the quality of processed Fuzi and related decoction.     

A study of the behaviour of some new column materials in the chromatographic analysis of Cinchona alkaloids

Summary A major problem in the HPLC analysis of alkaloids is the poor peak shape and consequently low resolution, due to the interactions of the basic alkaloids with the residual acidic silanol groups of most reversed phase materials. The performance of new packing materials specially designed for the separation of basic compounds has been studied using mobile phases without the special additives commonly applied in the analysis of alkaloids. Strongly basic Cinchona alkaloids were used as test compounds. Retention characteristics and selectivities of each material were studied, after mobile phase optimisation for the column. The influence of the major factors (nature and content of the organic modifier, pH value, salt concentration) affecting resolution was studied. The mobile phases were chosen so that they could be used in thermospray LC-MS. The addition of salts to the mobile phase improves separation but in general the modification of the mobile phase gave little change in selectivity. The performance of silicabased C₁₈ material proved superior to the polymer materials tested.     

Stereocomplementary Routes to Hydroxylated Nitrogen Heterocycles: Total Syntheses of Casuarine,Australine, and 7‐epi‐Australine

Addition of lithiated 1‐benzyloxyallene to a D ‐arabinose‐derived cyclic nitrone occurred with perfect diastereoselectivity furnishing a bicyclic 1,2‐oxazine derivative, which is an excellent precursor for pyrrolizidine alkaloids hydroxylated at C‐7 with optional configuration at this stereogenic center. Depending on the stage of the N? O bond cleavage and ring re‐closure, 7‐hydroxypyrrolizidines with 7R or 7S configuration were obtained, as a result of completely selective addition reactions occurring complementarily at the bottom or top face of the endocyclic C? C double bond in six‐ and five‐membered B rings, respectively. Applicability of these stereodivergent routes to obtain polyhydroxy pyrrolizidine alkaloids is demonstrated by the efficient syntheses of casuarine and australine as examples of the two classes of diversely configured 7‐hydroxypyrrolizidine alkaloids. An alternative synthesis of australine and two strategies for the preparation of 7‐epi‐australine are also reported, which demonstrate that the stereoselectivity of hydride reduction of an exocyclic C? O double bond is independent of the ring size, occurring preferentially from the top face either in a six‐ or five‐membered ring.