Chemistry of Natural Compounds

The components of fragrance from four wormwood species of theArtemisiaL. genus were analyzed by GC-MS. The major and minor components of volatile essential oils typical of the studied plant species were determined.

The minor phospholipids of the seeds of cotton plants of varieties Tashkent-1, Tashkent-2, and Tashkent-3 have been isolated and studied. The position distribution of the fatty acids in the N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines has been established. On the basis of the results of a chemical study and also of NMR spectroscopy, it is suggested that the N-acyllysophosphatidylethanolamines are 2-acylglycerophosphoryl-N-acylethanolamines, and that the lysophosphatidylcholines are 2-acylglycerophosphorylcholines.

The bacterium Microbacterium sp. GT35 was found to be capable of transforming Re and Rg1, principal ginsenosides of the 20(S)-protopanaxatriol series, into minor glycosides 20(S)-Rg2 and 20(S)-Rh1, respectively. The specificity of Microbacterium sp. GT35 differed from that of several other microorganisms by cleaving only the β-D-glucose on C-20 and not affecting the C-6 carbohydrates of 20(S)-protopanaxatriol.

The amounts of neutral and polar lipids, chlorophylls, carotenoids and alkaloids have been determined in differentiated tissues of Codonopsis clematidea Schrenk grown by the tissue culture method. The qualitative and fatty-acid compositions of the neutral and polar lipids have been established and the presence has been shown of the quantitatively main alkaloid of the wild-growing plant, codonopsine, and of the minor alkaloid codonopsinine.

Literature data published in 1998-2002 on the chemical synthesis of ecdysteroids and their structural analogs were reviewed.

In the course of a further study of the alkaloids of the epigeal part of Aconitum turczaninowiia new alkaloid has been isolated, which has been named turpelline. A structure for turpelline has been proposed on the basis of a study of its IR, mass, PMR, 13 C NMR, and 2D COSY spectra.

One new phenolic glycoside (1) and two known stereoisomers (2 and 3) were isolated from the methanol extract of Viburnum cylindricum leaves. Their structures were determined as (7R,8S)-guaiacylglycerol 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), (7S,8R)-guaiacylglycerol 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), and (7R,8R)-guaiacylglycerol 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), respectively, by spectroscopic data (1D, 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and ORD) and chemical methods. In addition, compound 1 showed potential α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with the IC50 value of 10.73 μM in comparison with the positive control acarbose (IC50 = 18.84 μM).