Due to its tropical location, chains of mountains, inter-Andean valleys, Amazon basin area, eastern plains and shores on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Colombia has many ecosystems and the second largest plant biodiversity in the world. Many plant species, both native and naturalized, are currently recognized as toxic for both animals and humans, and some of them are known to cause their...

The novel quinoline alkaloid scolopendrine was isolated from the centipede, Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans L. Koch. The structure was determined to be 2-hydroxy-7-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-3-methoxy-8-quinolyl sulfate on the basis of high-resolution electron-spray ionization mass spectroscopy and two-dimensional NMR spectral data. Unlike quinoline alkaloids so far reported, scolopen...

Berberine azide, berberine thiocyanate, and 8-cyano-8H-berberine were prepared from berberine chloride, a quaternary protoberberine alkaloid. The molecular and crystal structures of all compounds are reported and discussed.

A new diketopiperazine alkaloid named spirotryprostatin K (1), and five known alkaloids, spiro[5H,10H-dipyrrolo[1,2-a:1',2'-d]pyrazine-2(3H),2'-[2H]-indole]-3',5,10(1'H) trione (2), 6-methoxyspirotryprostatin B (3), pseurotin A (4), N-β-acetyltryptamine (5), and lumichrome (6) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The structure and the absolute configuration of spirotr...

THE TITLE COMPOUND [SYSTEMATIC NAME: (1S,4S,5R,7S,8S,9R,10R,11S,13S,14S,16S,17R)-N-methyl-8,14-dihy-droxy-1,16-tri-meth-oxy-4-(meth-oxy-methyl-ene)aconitane], C(24)H(39)NO(5), was isolated from the roots of Aconitum carmichaelii Debx., which is known as 'Chuanwu' in Chinese traditional herbal medicine. The mol-ecule has an aconitane carbon skeleton with four six-membered rings and two five-memb...

With the accelerated aging of human society Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become one of the most threatening diseases in the elderly. However, there is no efficient therapeutic agent to combat AD. Berberine is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid that possesses a wide range of pharmacological effects. In the present paper, we review the multiple activities of berberine, including antioxidant, acetylc...

A novel isoquinolinone alkaloid, iseluxine (1), has been isolated from the epigeal parts of Iseia luxurians (MORIC.) O'DONELL (Convolvulaceae), a climber indigenous to the tropical Americas. Structural elucidation was achieved by HRMS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HMBC spectroscopy. N- and/or O-methyl derivatives of 1 are already known from certain Magnoliidae families, e.g., the Fumariaceae, the Laura...

The inclusion of sanguinarine, a biologically active natural benzophenanthridine alkaloid, in cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) was studied by NMR and ground-state absorption spectroscopy, as well as steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements in aqueous solution. The iminium form of sanguinarine (SA(+)) produces very stable 1 : 1 inclusion complex with CB7 (K = 1.0 × 10(6) M(-1)), whereas the...

Three passerine species in the genus Pitohui, endemic to the New Guinea subregion, contain the steroidal alkaloid homobatrachotoxin, apparently as a chemical defense. Toxin concentrations varied among species but were always highest in the skin and feathers. Homobatrachotoxin is a member of a class of compounds collectively called batrachotoxins that were previously considered to be restricted ...

A further analysis of the effects of the steroidal alkaloid batrachotoxin (BTX) on sodium channels in frog node of Ranvier has been carried out under voltage-clamp conditions. The main properties of modified channels as compared with those of normal ones are as follows: The rate of channel closing is drastically decreased, whereas that of opening is changed slightly if at all; The steady-state ...