Posted on 24. November, 2011.

Rauvolfia tetraphylla Linn. (syn. R. canescens L., family: Apocynaceae) holds an important position in the Indian traditional system of medicine, and has other immense applications. This particular plant is regarded as a rich source of a wide variety of important alkaloid constituents such as reserpine, reserpiline, raujemidine, isoreserpiline, deserpidine, aricine, ajmaline, ajmalicine, yohimbines, serpentine, sarpagine, vellosimine and tetrphylline. However, there is no report on the terpenoid constituent from this plant, and we report the isolation from the air-dried stems and branches of R. tetraphylla and structural elucidation of a new labdane diterpene, 3-hydroxy-labda-8(17),13(14)-dien-12(15)-olide (1; Fig. 1) bearing  an unusual -lactone moiety.

Posted on 3. November, 2011.

Dictyophora indusiata is a stinkhorn fungus growing in bamboo thickets which has been used as ingredient in Chinese traditional foods for a very long time due to it delicious taste and high nutritional value. It has become a popular ingredient in Chinese cuisine because advances in its cultivation since 1979 have made it cheap and easily available. It has been observed that the broth could stay unspoiled for several days if D. indusiata were added. It has been widely recognised in Chinese folk medicine that D. indusiata has beneficial effects on some diseases, such as cough, inflammation, diarrhoea and bacterial enteritis. The chemical components and antibacterial activity of extracts of D. indusiata have been reported previously, but the components which have antibacterial activity are still unknown.

Posted on 28. October, 2011.

The preparation and reactions of B-norsteroidal 6-ketones and their relatives are reviewed in the context of the stability of the A/B and B/C ring junctions and the stereochemistry of the addition reactions to the carbonyl group. This review is a sequel to a previous article on the reactions of B-norsteroidal 4- and 5-enes (C. Uyanik and J.R. Hanson, J. Chem. Res, 2009, 713.)
doi: 10.3184/174751911X13146264913491

Posted on 30. September, 2011.

B-norsteroids are involved in the the apoptopic activity of the marine sterol orostonal and the anti-tubercular activity of the parguesterols, and are used in the synthesis of hormone analogues.  The preparation and reactivity of the heavily substituted cyclopentanone B-norsteroidal 6-ketones, which have formed precursors for the synthesis of ring B-azasteroids, are reviewed by Cavit Uyanik and James R. Hanson in the September issue of Journal of Chemical Research. They suggest further areas for investigation of these modified steroids.

Posted on 20. July, 2011.

The diverse biological activities exhibited by 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans (DHBs)suggest that they have great potential as lead compounds in the study of biological processes and the treatment of disease. In the July issue of Journal of Chemical Research, Tom Sheppard from UCL reviews  the synthetic strategies available. He hopes  to stimulate greater interest in the study of DHBs in medicinal chemistry, and promote further improvement of the synthetic strategies available for constructing them.

Posted on 14. June, 2011.

First synthesised in the early 1960s, nitroxides have become probably the most popular persistent radicals. Their long half lives and the sensitivity of their spectromagnetic properties to local environment (polarity, hydrogen bonding power, pH and viscosity of the surrounding medium and proximity to other paramagnetic or charged species) and intramolecular effects (conformation and vibrational behaviour) make them attractive tools in various areas of application, particularly in the fields of biochemistry, biophysics and materials science.

Posted on 10. March, 2011.

Journal of Chemical Research-S has now officially become Journal of Chemical Research!