S.W. Pelletier - Böcker

Chapter 2 by Giovanni Appendino provides a fascinating treatment of Taxine, a collective name referring to a mixture of diterpenoid alkaloids from the yew tree (genus: Taxus). Taxine is responsible for the toxic properties of the yew tree that has been documented in historical and fictional literature, from Julius Caesar to Shakespeare, and from Agatha Christie to T.S. Eliot. The chapter treats the history, isolation techniques, structure elucidation, chemistry, and pharmacology of Taxine.

Chapter 3 by Mary D. Menachery surveys the alkaloids of South American Menispermaceae (moonseed family). Many different structural types are included in this family. The alkaloid-bearing plants are woody-vines, shrubs, or small trees. Several of these species possess potent curare activity. The chemistry as well as pharmacology of these alkaloids is summarized.

Chapter 4 by Russell J. Molyneux, Robert J. Nash, and Naoki Asano treats the chemistry and biological activity of the calystegines and related nortropane alkaloids. These polyhydroxylated bicyclic alkaloids represent another class of compounds that inhibit glycosidases, producing profound effects in biological systems by disrupting the essential cellular function of glycoprotein processing.

Chapter 5, a related chapter by Robert J. Nash, Naoki Asano, and Alison A. Watson, reviews polyhydroxylated alkaloids that inhibit glycosidases. Topics covered include distribution, ecological significance and toxicity, isolation, synthesis, and biosynthesis.

Volume 14 of this series presents three interesting reviews of research on alkaloids. Chapter 1, by Paul L. Schiff, Jr., is a monumental effort, presenting a selective, comprehensive tabular review of research on the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids, with an analysis of the respective alkaloid types. The chapter should serve as a very useful tool for the bench research scientist who is involved in the isolation and elucidation of structures of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids. Moreover, the data in these tables provides the botanical distribution and occurrence (family, genus, species) of the various classes of these alkaloids. The alkaloids are also categorized by their molecular weights and structural types.

Chapter 2, by Toh-Seok Kam, is a review of alkaloids derived from Malaysian flora. Malaysia's position near the Equator confers on it a tropical climate characterized by high temperatures, humidity, and rainfall, conditions favorable for plant life that has resulted in a rich flora of about 15,000 species of higher plants. This review concentrates on work published during the past twenty years and where appropriate compares the occurrence of alkaloids with studies of similar plants from countries neighboring to Malaysia, especially Thailand and Indonesia.

Chapter 3, by Jie Jack Li, presents a collection of very interesting total syntheses of naturally occurring indole alkaloids where palladium chemistry plays a central role in the syntheses. Five different types of palladium-mediated reactions are treated: (1) oxidative cyclization reactions promoted by palladium (II) species; (2) transmetallation reactions with organoboranes, organostannanes, and organozinc reagents; (3) inter- and intramolecular Heck reactions; (4) reactions with &pgr;-allylpalladium as the intermediate; and (5) reactions using C-N bond formation as the key step for the synthesis.