Gluco-indole alkaloids

Takayama H et al. (2003) Gluco-indole alkaloids from Nauclea cadamba in Thailand and transformation of 3alpha-dihydrocadambine into the indolopyridine alkaloid, 16-carbomethoxynaufoline. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 51(2) 232-233... 

Within the natural products field, the investigation of complete biosynthetic pathways at the enzyme level has been especially successful for plant alkaloids of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloid family generated from the monoterpene gluco-side secologanin and decarboxylation product of tryptophan, tryptamine [3-5]. The most comprehensive enzymatic data are now available for the alkaloids ajmalicine (raubasine) from Catharanthus roseus, and for ajmaline from Indian Rauvolfia serpentina [6] the latter alkaloid with a six-membered ring system bearing nine chiral carbon atoms. Entymatic data exsist also for vindoline, the vincaleucoblastin (VLB) precursor for which some studies on enzymatic coupling of vindoline and catharanthine exist in order to get the so-called dimeric Catharanthus indole-alkaloids VLB or vincristine [7-9] with pronounced anti-cancer activity [10, 11]. 

Arbain and coworkers [35] discovered unusual indole monoterpenoid gluco-alkaloid, characterized by a glucose moiety on the benzenoid ring. Recent studies reported an unusual oxindole alkaloid, macrophylUonium (1.23), pair of new tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids, macrophyllines A and B (1.24 and 1.25) with significant vasodilating activity [36]. 

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