Hunnemannia

Slavikova and Slavik 181) have isolated a diphenolic protoberberine alkaloid, HFl, C19H21O4N (mp 20I°-203° [a]j, — 356° in CHCI3) from Hunnemannia fumariaefolia Sweet. It was characterized as a (— )-0,0-bisdemethyltetrahydropalmatine by methylation to (— )-tetrahydro-palmatine. The position of the phenolic hydroxyl groups had not been determined, but mass spectrometry indicates one is in ring A and the second in ring D. 

Escholidine Eschscholtzia califomica, E. douglasii, E. glauca, Hunnemannia fumariaefolia... 

Scoulerine (145 R = H), the main constituent of Argemone albiflora, had not been previously obtained from Argemone species.The previously named alkaloid HF 1 isolated from Hunnemannia fumariaefolia was found to be identical with ( —)-scoulerine. The co-occurrence of (— )-tetrahydropalmatine (145 R = Me) and (-f )-armepavine in Argemone turnerae has been established for the first time.The isolation and characterization of two artefact alkaloids, berberine chloroform (146 R + R = CH2 R = H,CCl3) and palmatine chloroform (146 R = R = Me, R = H,CCl3), from Berberis lycium have... 

Hunnemanine, C20H21O6N, has been isolated only from Hunnemannia fumariaefoUa (71) in which it is present to the extent of 0.18 %. It is readily separable from the associated bases because of its solubility in alkaline solution, from which it is precipitated quantitatively by carbon dioxide, but not well by ammonium chloride. 

The only representative of the genus Hunnemannia A. Juss., which is closely related to the genera Eschscholtzia, Dendromecon, and Petromecon, is Hunnemannia fumariaefolia Sweet, native to Central America. In the aerial part of this plant, the major alkaloid is hunnemanine (312) (Tables XXXVIII and XXXIX) and in the roots, protopine (309), hunnemanine, and allocryptopine (310). Cyclanoline (245) represents the main component of the quaternary alkaloid fraction of the aerial part and the roots. 

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