A method to directly identify triterpene glycosides using reversed-phase liquid chromatography with positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (LC/(+)APCIMS) was developed. Based on the analysis of the molecular weight, fragment ions, selected ion chromatograms, a number of triterpene glycosides, including actein, 27-deoxyactein, cimicfugoside M, and cimicifugoside, from Cimicifuga racemosa were studied. A chromone, cimifugin, from C. foetida was also identified. Cimicifugoside M and cimifugin can specifically serve as indicators for species identification. The method can, therefore, be used to distinguish black cohosh products from among different plant species for quality control purposes.

The Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology’s laboratory has adopted four “bench top” bioassays which do not require higher animals to screen and direct the fractionation of botanical extracts in drug discovery efforts. These are: 1. The brine shrimp lethality test (BST) (a general bioassay), 2. The inhibition of crown gall tumors on discs of potato tubers (an antitumor bioassay), 3. The inhibition of frond proliferation in duckweed (a bioassay for herbicides and plant growth stimulants), and 4. The yellow fever mosquito larvae lethality test (a bioassay for pesticides). The materials and procedures for those bioassays will be briefly described. The authors’ results in applying these simple methods in the discovery of Annonaceous acetogenins will be presented to illustrate their successful use. The BST is especially suggested as an inexpensive, simple, and rapid means of standardization of bioactivity in heterogeneous botanical products.

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVNoteNEXTNew Bioactive Steroids from Melia volkensiiLingling L. Rogers, Lu Zeng, and Jerry L. McLaughlinView Author Information Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906 Cite this: J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 11, 3781–3785Publication Date (Web):April 30, 1998Publication History Received29 January 1998Published online30 April 1998Published inissue 1 May 1998https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jo980158qhttps://doi.org/10.1021/jo980158qbrief-reportACS PublicationsCopyright © 1998 American Chemical SocietyRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views312Altmetric-Citations24LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-AlertscloseSupporting Info (1)»Supporting Information Supporting Information SUBJECTS:Alcohols,Alkyls,Carbonyls,Cells,Hydroxyls Get e-Alerts

Two new acetogenins, (2,4-cis and trans)-gigantecinone (1), isolated as a mixture, and 4-deoxygigantecin (2), a known acetogenin whose absolute stereochemistry has not been determined previously, were isolated using activity-directed fractionation, from the bark of Goniothalamus giganteus. A key step in solving their absolute stereochemistries was the preparation of 1,4-diol formaldehyde acetal derivatives (1b and 2a). Using the advanced Mosher ester method and circular dichroism, the absolute stereochemistries of I and 2 were revealed and were found to be the same as that of gigantecin (3), which supports a common biogenetic origin. Both 1 and Ib showed potent and selective cytotoxicities against the PC-3 human prostate adenocarcinoma cell line. Against yellow fever mosquito larvae, 1 and 2 were more potent than rotenone in pesticidal activity. Longimicin C and a mixture of (2,4-cis and trans)-isoannonacin were also isolated for the first time from this species.