Ormosia jamaicensis

Jamine is most unusual in that it occurs as a racemate in Ormosia jamaicensis. Recently, jamine isolated from Ormosia costulata was found crystallized in a noncentrosymmetric space group, Pll2l2l, where it necessarily must be optically active. The structure determination (19) yielded a molecule identical to that found in the earlier publication (18). 

The structures of two new hexacyclic alkaloids of Ormosia costulata have been determined by X-ray crystallography. One alkaloid is an enantiomer of the optically inactive j amine (20), and is reported to be identical with a formaldehyde adduct of an alkaloid of Podopetalum ormondii jamine was shown previously to be a constituent of O. panamensis and O. jamaicensis. A second new optically active alkaloid (21), homodasycarpine, is a stereoisomer of jamine. Absolute stereochemistry has not been established, and is not implied in structures (20) and (21). 

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