Previous phytochemical studies of plants from the Proteaceae have not been comprehensive with only 41 out of over 1700 species studied for their chemistry, and most of these studies were carried out in the mid to late 20th century. From these early phytochemical investigations compounds such as alkaloids, naphthoquinones, flavonoids, phenols and macrocyclic phenols were shown to be present within Proteaceae plants. Among the alkaloids, tropane alkaloids predominate, having been found in seven species from five genera. Tropane alkaloids found in other families have already been shown to possess central and peripheral nervous system bioactivity, and in particular show potent biological effect on acetylcholine receptors (AChR). Atropine and scopolamine, for example, found naturally from the Solanaceae family, show anticholinergic activity and have been developed as AChR antagonists and widely used in clinic applications. Floydia praealta (F. praealta) is a monotypic proteaceous plant endemic in south eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Recent molecular phylogenetic analysis has placed F. praealta in a tribe allied with other alkaloid producing species and therefore we anticipated that it too would contain alkaloids. In this presentation, structures of several new tropane alkaloids isolated from different plants parts of F. praealta will be reported based on MS and NMR profiles. It is only the eighth member of the Proteaceae family to have been shown to produce alkaloids.

Tropane alkaloids from the Australian proteaceous plant Flyodia praealta

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.