Flavonol methyl ethers

The composition of the essential oil of the stems of A. giganteum was investigated by GC-MS [3]. Forty seven terpenes were identified. Linalool and linalyl acetate were the main components and these were responsible for the distinctive smell of the stems. From the stems of A. giganteum, three rare naturally occurring flavonol 3-methyl ethers were isolated together with chrysophanol, physcion, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone and p-sitosterol [4]. The flavonol methyl ethers were identified as kaempferol... 

Asiatic herb looking like hemp, which is used for its yellow pigment and also as a laxative. In the roots, datiscetin is accompanied by galangin. Herbacetin and gosypetin have an additional hydroxyl group at C-8. Examples of flavonol methyl ethers are rhamnetein, isorhamnetin and other substances (9-98). Isorhamnetin occurs as 3-P-rutinoside (narcissin) in citrus and other fruits. 

Phlomis consists of about 100 species, a dozen of which occur in Mediterranean Europe (Mabberley, 1997, p. 549). The study of interest here involves a study of the flavonoids of R lychnitys L., a small plant native to Mediterranean Spain (Tomas et ah, 1986). Those workers identified the common flavones apigenin, luteolin, and luteolin 3 -methyl ether (chrysoeriol) 7-0-glucosides and their respective /7-coumaroyl derivatives. A brief review of the literature revealed that Mediterranean species of Phlomis are characterized by the presence of the flavone methyl ether, whereas continental species appear to lack 0-methylated flavones. Species from India have been reported to lack flavones but accumulate flavonols. The suggestion was made that accumulation of flavonols represents an ancestral feature of the genus. 

Havonoids are made up of a number of classes of very similar groups in which two phenyl rings are connected by a three-carbon unit [10], The open structure members are yellow in color and termed as chalcones, and simple cyclization to a furanoid structure deepens the color to the orange aurones. The most usual flavonoids are, however, the pale-yellow flavones and flavonols, or 3-hydroxyflavones, which will be treated here, and the red-blue anthocyanins, which will be treated in the next section. Figure 13.4 shows examples of these main classes and their structural relationships. The natural compounds of all classes often occur as glycosides and as methyl ethers. 

Species of the genus Vellozia have been extensively studied for their flavonoid complement in relation to chemosystematics. In addition to a series of C-methylflavonols and two C-prenylated flavonols, derivatives of vellokaempferol and velloquercetin are accumulated in whole plants, leaves, and leaf exudates. The basic structure of these compounds is characterized by 7,6-isopropenylfurano substitution, based upon kaempferol, quercetin, and their 0-methyl ethers. In addition, 8-C-methyl derivatives of these compounds were also identified from leaves of V. stipitata " So far, species of this genus are the only reported sources of these compounds, which in parts have been proved to be accumulated externally. ° Structures are exemplified by Figure 12.10. 

By comparison, a series of mostly monoacylated flavonols is known to date and recent reports increased the number slightly. Four new products came from Pseudognaphalium robustum and Tanacetum microphyllum (both Asteraceae), and from Adina cordifolia (Rubia-ceae). A diacetylated compound (3,5-diacetyltambulin) was recently isolated from the bark of Zanthoxylum integrifoliolum (Rutaceae). Since most of the flavonols are monoacylated, the accumulation of quercetin tetraacetate in Adina cordifolia is a remarkable result. Altogether, the newly reported compounds occur scattered in the plant kingdom their occurrence is so far of little chemosystematic value. Aerial parts of Tanacetum microphyllum (Asteraceae) yielded a derivative, which is structurally not an ester. It is, indeed, a carbo-methoxy derivative of 6-hydroxyluteolin-4 -methyl ether (compound 34 in Table 12.5). No other flavonoid of this type is known so far. 

---