Specimens of the spongivorous Mediterranean opisthobranch Tylodina perversa that had been collected while feeding on Aplysina acerophoba were shown to sequester the brominated isoxazoline alkaloids of their prey. Alkaloids were stored in the hepatopancreas, mantle tissues, and egg masses in an organ-specific manner. Surprisingly, the known sponge alkaloid aerothionin which is found only in A. c...

Incarvillea sinensis is a wild plant distributed in northern China. The dried whole plant has been traditionally used to treat rheumatism and relieve pain as an ancient Chinese crude drug. To investigate its antinociceptive activity, we evaluated several fractions derived from the methanolic extract of Incarvillea sinensis in the formalin-induced pain model in mice. Incarvillateine, a novel mon...

A spectroscopic study of an organocatalytic Henry reaction between nitroalkanes and aldehydes catalyzed by a quinidine-derived Cinchona alkaloid is described. The binding modes of the reaction substrates are investigated using electronic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and further corroborated by nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. Aldehydes are shown to associate with both the 6'...

" The synthesis of cepharadione-B and 2-demethoxy analogues is described. Starting from fluorenones, ring C was formed by cyclization of (biphenyl-2-yl)acetyl morpholines under BischlerNapieralsky conditions. The photochemistry of chloroacetamides was used to form ring B. The cytotoxicity of these compounds on several tumor cell lines was evaluated. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd 4,5-Dio...

palmatine isolated from the rhizome of Coptis japonica MAKINO have been demonstrated to exert wide ranges of biological and pharmacological activities. In particular, the major medically important isoquinoline alkaloid, berberine, has been extensively studied and recently reported to display beneficial effects in the treatment of diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia, while both coptisine and pa...

The stem bark extract of Schizozygia coffaeoides (Apocynaceae) showed moderate antiplasmodial activity (IC50 = 8–12 mg/mL) against the chloroquine-sensitive (D6) and chloroquine-resistant (W2) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Chromatographic separation of the extract led to the isolation of a new schizozygane indoline alkaloid, named 3-oxo-14a,15a-epoxyschizozygine. In addition, two dimeric an...