Erythrophleum guineense

Menispermaceae), Argemone, Chelidonium, Corydalis (Papaveraceae), Coptis, Thalictrum (Ranunculacae), Evodia, Toddalia, fanthoxylum (Rutaceae) spp. Erythrophleum guineense,... 

A useful review of the diterpene alkaloids has appeared.Partition chromatography of the Erythrophleum alkaloids from the bark of Erythrophleum guineense has led to the isolation of 8-dehydrocassaic acid. This may arise by the dehydration of a 6a-hydroxy-alkaloid (6a-hydroxycassaine), since erythro-phleguine (6a-hydroxycassamine) gives 8-dehydrocassamic acid on hydrolysis. 

Erythrophleum guineense G. Don Blrem Whitlow Infected wounds cardiotoxic poison to kill noxious animals (B) Powder dilution of mashed bark... 

Cassanes.— -Caesalpin (41), from Caesalpinia pulcherrima, possesses the cassane skeleton, and is thus related to the bitter principles isolated from the seeds of Caesalpinia bonducella. Cassminic acid is a minor constituent of the bark of Erythrophleum guineense. Spectroscopic measurements and an interrelationship with cassane-16,19-dioic acid have established " it as 6-oxo-7-hydroxycass-13-ene-16,19-dioic acid. N.m.r. measurements and bromination-dehydrobromina-tion studies are in accord with the axial 14a-configuration now accepted for the cassamic acid diterpenes. 

In 1876, Gallois and Hardy (98) isolated the amorphous alkaloid eryth-rophleine, CsiHsgOsN, from the bark of Erythrophleum guineense G. Don. 

Species of the genus Erythrophleum (Fabaceae Caesal-pinioideae) are often highly toxic. As few as two leaves of Erythrophleum chlorostachys, a plant native to northern Australia, have been reported to be poisonous to a goat and have produced poisoning of goats, sheep, horses, and cattle. In Africa, Erythrophleum guineense has been used as a trial-by-ordeal plant. 

Erythrophleum alkaloids a group of terpene alkaloids from Erythrophleum guineense and E. ivor-ense. They are esters or amides of the diterpene cas-sainic acid with substituted ethanolamines. The most important is cassaine (Fig.), a cardiotonic agent equal in potency to the digitalis glycosides. 

Dalma G 1939 Zur Kenntnis der Erythrophleum Alkaloide. (1). Cassain, ein kristallisiertes Alkaloid aus der Rinde von Erythrophleum guineense (G Don). Helv Chim Acta 22 1497-1512... 

The genus Erythrophleum Afzel. belongs to the tribe Dimorphandreae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, of the family Leguminosae. Well represented in the equatorial forests of West Africa, the species E. guineense... 

There followed a rapid succession of reports of the isolation and characterization of alkaloids Schlittler (13) described the secondary coumingidine from E. couminga Ruzicka, Plattner, and Engel (14) isolated coumingine and a new tertiary base, which was also found in E. guineense along with a second tertiary base by Engel and Tondeur (15) Paris (16) isolated cassaine from an unknown but botanically described Erythrophleum from Indo-China. 

---