Partial Synthesis of Crassicauline A from Yunaconitine

Abstract

Both Aconitum hemsleyanum and Aconitum geniculatun have abundant contents of yunaconitine (1). Yunaconitine (1) has similar skeleton to crassicauline A (3); the only difference between them is that 1 contains a α-hydroxyl group at C-3. Our team attempts to convert 1 into 3 because 3 owns pharmacological activity. There are two steps to achieve the transformation above: firstly, use dehydration reaction to transform yunaconitine (1) into dehydroyunaconitine (2); secondly, use hydrogen reduction to acquire crassicauline A (3). Compared with other methods, this one below is more suitable for production application and more concise; moreover, the cost is lower with higher yield. Graphic AbstractKeywords Diterpenoid alkaloids · Yunaconitine · Crassicauline A

Diterpenoid Alkaloids from the Aerial Parts of Aconitum flavum Hand.-Mazz

“…It is estimated that there are more than 350 species of Aconitum all over the world, which are widely distributed in the northern temperate zone, of which 173 species are endemic to mainland China [ 1 ]. Previously chemical and pharmacological studies shown that the diterpenoid alkaloids (DAs) were the main pharmacological constituents of this genus [ 2 ]. So far, around 1300 natural DAs, categorized into C 20 -, C 19 -, and C 18 - families depending on the number of contiguous carbon atoms, have been reported [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [ 5 ].…”