Indole alkaloids diethylamide

Strychinine was the first alkaloid isolated by Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaime Caventou in 1818, from the plants of the Strychnos genus. The structure was first determined in 1946 by Sir Robert Robinson, and in 1954 it was synthesized by Robert B. Woodward [9]. This is one of the most famous synthesis in the history of organic chemistry. Strychnine is a very well known compound, due to its powerful poisonous activity. Moreover, one of the most famous non-natural indole alkaloid derivatives is lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which was synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann. LSD was a popular psychedelic drug in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Much more complex are the thousands of alkaloids that include an indole (or 2,3-dihydroindole) sub-unit and in each of these one can discern the tryptamine nnit of the biosynthetic precursor tryptophan strychnine (33.3.2) (Strychnos nux vomica), vincristine (33.7) (Catharanthus roseus), and the antipsychotic and antihypertensive reserpine (Rauwolfia serpentina) are examples. A group of amides of lysergic acid, for example, ergotamine, occur in ergot fnngi (e.g. Claviceps purpurea), the remainder of the molecule comprising proline, phenylalanine and alanine nnits. Lysergic acid diethylamide is the notorious LSD. 

Lysergic acid a tetracyclic indole derivative, M, 368.32. The D-form, m.p. 240 °C (d.), [a]g -i-40° (c = 0.5, pyridine), is one of the Ergot alkaloids (see). Change of configuration at C8 produces biologically inactive isolysergic acid, L. is a close structural relative of LSD (see Lysergic acid diethylamide). 

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