CHASMANINE AND ITS STRUCTURE

Abstract

The alkaloid chasmanine, C25H41O6N, isolated from A. chasmanthum contains four methoxyl and two hydroxyl groups as well as an imino-ethyl. It undergoes the usual pyrolytic reaction and the unsaturated product, pyrochasmanine, C25H39O5N, gives rise to an acid-catalyzed allylic rearrangement product, isopyrochasmanine. Pyrochasmanine, on treatment with lithium aluminium hydride, is demethoxylated. It can be concluded that the base, like bikhaconine, contains the sequence [Formula: see text]. Chasmanine can be oxidized to a compound containing a cyclopentanone ring so that its second hydroxyl must be secondary and located on a five-membered ring. It is possible to benzoylate the secondary hydroxyl and acetylate the tertiary hydroxyl. The n.m.r. characteristics of the resulting double ester determine the location of these two groups and their stereochemistry. The relative position of two of the remaining methoxyl groups is established via a demethylation reaction resulting in the formation of a cyclic ether. All the chemical reactions studied are in agreement with structure IV (R = R′ = H) for chasmanine. There is, however, no positive proof for the location of the fourth methoxyl and it has been placed in ring A by analogy. An attempted correlation with bikhaconine is described.