Phenyllactic acid in Duboisia leichhardtii root cultures B feeding of phenyl[1- 14C]alanine

Abstract

Phenyl[1- 14C]alanine which is a precursor of the acid moiety of tropane alkaloids and one of the possible intermediates—namely phenylpyruvic, phenyllactic and tropic acids—were simultaneously added to Duboisia leichhardtii root cultures in order to trap the labelled intermediates. When phenyllactic acid was added to 0.5–5 mm, incorporation of phenyl[1- 14C]alanine into the organic acid fraction was much greater in comparison with the cases using phenylpyruvic acid, tropic acid or no intermediate at all. TLC-autoradiogram of the organic acid fraction obtained from phenyllactic acid feeding experiments showed the existence of a radioactive spot corresponding to phenyllactic acid. Trapping of labelled phenyllactic acid was confirmed by recrystallization, NMR and melting point.