Ailanthus Family

SimarubacecB or Ailanthus Family.—A family of chiefly tropical shrubs or trees containing bitter principles. The leaves are alternate and pinnate. The flowers are dioecious or polygamous and arranged in axillary panicles Picrasma excelsa) or racemes Quassia amara). The plants are distinguished from those of the Rutacea by the absence of secretory cavities. 

This is a tropical family with a couple of members in temperate Asia. Some are used medicinally, some for their oilseeds, some for timber, and some as ornamentals, especially Ailanthus, which has been introduced and naturalized in North America and central and southern Europe. 

Alkaloids are known in the family including -carbolines (barman) and canlhinone. Of 26 species tested, the following were previously known to be alkaloidal and also gave positive tests in this study Ailanthus altissima (2/4), A. excelsa, Alvaradoa amor-phoides (1/3), Picrasma javanica (1/4). 

Canthin-6-one (1) has been isolated from 25 of the 36 species of plants in Table I and from cell cultures of Ailanthus altissima (13-16). Canthin-6-one is one of the most widely distributed alkaloids in plants. It has been reported (77) that 1 is contained in 9 of 33 species in the genus Rhododendron of the family Ericaceae of China. Readers are referred to Volume 8 (p. 249) of this treatise for its structure (5). 

The isolation of a new jS-carboline alkaloid, l-acetyl-3-methoxycarbonyl-j8-carboline (10), from the leaves of Vestia lycioides Willd., constitutes the first reported occurrence of a /8-carboline derivative in the family Solanaceae. Several simple jS-carboline derivatives also occur in the bark and roots of Ailanthus malabarica DC. (fam. Simaroubaceae) these include 1-methoxy-carbonyl-j8 -carboline, 4-methoxy-1 -vinyl-/3 -carboline (dehydrocrenatine),... 

Species belonging to the Simaroubaceae family are widely referenced in the pharmacopoeias of different medical systems around the world, whether they be of contemporary or ancient use, transmitted orally, or from written sources. For example, Ailanthus altissima, the area of natural distribution of which extends from Manchuria to Malaysia, is one of the most cited species in ancient Chinese medical treatise for a wide range of indications. One of the oldest recipes for this species has been recorded in a book in China dating back to 732 AD for the treatment of mental illness [110]. Its bark is stiU registered in actual Chinese and Asian pharmacopoeias, and it is traded across China. The same applies to Brucea javanica fruits in Southeast Asia and to Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. bark, mentioned in ancient and contemporary ayurvedic medicine books [111]. The use of Brucea antidysenterica bark has also been documented since the sixteenth century in ancient Arabic medical pharmacopoeias [112]. 

Ailanthus altissima is a tall deciduous tree of Chinese origin. A study of the wood extractives has revealed the presence of three alkaloids canthin-6-one, can-thin-6-one-3-oxide, and l-methoxycanthin-6-one (118). Another member of the same family, Simarouba amara, contains 5-hydroxycanthine-6-one (93). The root bark of Ailanthus excelsa contains four canthine derivatives canthin-6-one, 1 -methoxycanthin-6-one, 5-methoxycanthin-6-one, and 8-hydroxanthin-6-one (27). 

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