Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 29 (2001) 213}214
A minor coumarino-lignoid from
Jatropha gossypifolia
q
Biswanath Das
*
, B. Venkataiah
Organic Chemistry Division-I, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, India
Received 11 February 2000; accepted 26 April 2000
Keywords: Jatropha gossypifolia; Euphorbiaceae; Whole plant; Propacin; Coumarino-lignoid
1. Subject and source
Jatropha gossypifolia
Linn. (Euporbiaceae) is a small shrub which grows widely in
India. The plant has been used ethnomedically for the treatment of cancerous growths
(Hartwell, 1969).
The whole plant was collected from the campus in September 1997. A voucher
specimen of the plant material (IICP-2048) is preserved in the herbarium of the Indian
Institute of Chemical Technology.
2. Previous work
Several novel diterpenes (jatrophone and its analogues (Kupchan et al., 1970;
Taylor et al., 1983) and jatropholones A and B (Purushothaman et al., 1979)) as well as
lignans (jatrophan and gadain (Banerji et al., 1984) and venkatasin (Das et al., 1999))
have previously been reported.
3. Present study
The dried whole plant of
J. gossypifolia
was extracted with CH
2
Cl
2
}
MeOH (1 : 1)
for 120 h. The concentrated extract was subjected to column chromatography over
q
Studies on Phytochemicals: Part XXXI; IICT Communication No. 4498
silica gel to produce propacin (
1
) (yield 0.0011%). The physical (m.p., [
a
]
D
) and
spectral (IR,
1H NMR and MS) properties of the compound and its acetyl derivative
were found to be identical to those recorded earlier (Zoghbi et al., 1981; Arnoldi et al.,
1984; Chatterjee et al., 1994). This is the
"
rst report of the isolation of propacin from
J. gossypifolia.
4. Chemotaxonomic signi
5
cance
Coumarino-lignoids have previously been isolated (Parthasarathy and Saradhi,
1984; Das et al., 1999) from various
Jatropha
species. These compounds may be useful
taxonomic markers within the genus.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank CSIR (New Delhi) for
"
nancial assistance.
References
Arnoldi, A., Arnone, A., Merlini, L., 1984. Heterocycles 22, 1537.
Banerji, J., Das, R., Chatterjee, A., Shoolery, J.N., 1984. Phytochemistry 23, 2323. Chatterjee, A., Das, P.C., Joshi, P.C., Mondal, S., 1994. J. Ind. Chem. Soc. 71, 475. Das, B., Venkataiah, B., Kashinatham, A., 1999. Nat. Prod. Lett. 13, 293. Hartwell, J.L., 1969. Lloydia 32, 153.
Kupchan, S.M., Sigel, C.W., Matz, M.J., Renauld, J.A.S., Haltiwanger, R.C., Bryan, R.F., 1970. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 92, 4476.
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