Sarcococca

Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis Stephanandra incisa Crispa ... 

Kalauni SK, Choudhary MI, Khalid A, et al.. New cholinesterase inhibitory alkaloids from the leaves of Sarcococca coriacae of Nepalese origin, Chem Pharm 5 //50 l423-l426, 2002. 

Gilani, A. H., Ghayur, M. N., Khalid, A., Haq, Z., Choudhary, M. I. and Rahman, A. 2005. Presence of antispasmodid, antidiarrheal, antisecretory. Calcium antagonist and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory steroidal alkaloids in Sarcococca saligna. Planta Medica, 71 120-125. 

A histochemical investigation also established the presence of alkaloids in Pachysandra, Sarcococca, and Simmondsia (190). The alkaloids found in Sarcococca and Pachysandra are simple pregnane derivatives lacking the alkyl substitution at C-4 and C-14. The alkaloids isolated from Sarcococca pruniformis Lindley show close similarity in structure to alkaloids typical of pregnane-type alkaloids of Apocynaceae some of them were found in both families. 

Key to letters a. Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. et Zucc. b. Sarcococca pruniformis Lindl. See Table I. 

Saracodine, an alkaloid isolated from Sarcococca pruniformis, and believed to be 3lS-dimethylamino-20a-methylacetamido-5a-pregnane, is, however, shown to be different from epipachysamine-A (see Section 5). 

An alkaloid, salignine, has been isolated from Sarcococca saligna (synonymous with S. pruniformis). Later work has shown that it is identical with sara-codine. ... 

The origin of the steroidal alkaloids of the Apocynaceae and some of the Buxaceae (Sarcococca and Pachysandra) appears to be linked with the biogenesis in these plants of steroidal derivatives of pregnanes, pregnenolone in particular. The Buxus alkaloids appear to be derived from 4,4,14a-trimethyl-9j3,19-cyclo-5a-pregnanes. 

Alkaloid C from Sarcococca pruniformis has been identified as 3a-methoxy-20a-dimethylaminopregn-5-ene (43). Emde degradation of (43) followed by catalytic hydrogenation afforded 3a-methoxy-5a-pregnane (44), identical with a sample prepared from 5a-pregnan-3-one.34... 

At least 450 steroid and triterpenoid alkaloids have been reported (Verpoorte et al., 1991). Most steroidal alkaloids occur in a relatively small number of genera (Cestrum, Cy-phomandra, Lycopersicon, Nicotiana, and Solanum) of the family Solanaceae and of the family Liliaceae (Fritillaria, Veratrum, and Zygadems). Related alkaloids are known from the Apocynaceae (Funtumia, Holarrhena, and Ma-louetia) and Buxaceae. Alkaloids based on triterpenoid structures are much less common. Probably the best known ones are found in plants of the Buxaceae (especially Buxus, Pachysandra, and Sarcococca) (Gross et al., 1985 Roddick, 1980, 1986). 

Alkaloid from aerial parts of Sarcococca ruscifolia (Buxaceae). 

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