A new furanoditerpenoid marker for the distinction between the seeds of two species of Caesalpinia.

Abstract

A new cassane furanoditerpene, 17-methylvouacapane-8(14),-9(11)-diene (1), has been isolated from the seed kernels of Caesalpinia crista and its structure determined by mass, IR and NMR spectrometry. The 1H- and 13C-NMR spectra were assigned using a combination of 1H-1H COSY, HSQC and HMBC two-dimensional NMR experiments. An HPTLC method has been developed to quantify 1 in seed material. The furanoditerpene can serve as a marker chemically to differentiate C. crista from the synonymous C. bonduc.