THE SYNTHESIS OF ALKALOIDS FROM CRINUM DELAGOENSE, COMPOUNDS WITH POTENTIAL TUMOR SUPPRESSING ABILITY

Abstract

Crinum delagoense, a plant native to South Africa, contains six different alkaloids (Nair, Campbell et al. 1997). Two of these alkaloids, delagoensine and delagoenine, had not been identified or characterized prior to the point of their initial isolation in 1997 and have since not been synthesized in a laboratory setting using a dedicated synthetic route. Due to their potential to combat certain types of human cancer, these two alkaloids are worthy targets for total synthesis. The purpose of this study is to synthesize delagoensine and delagoenine by modifying a previous route used in the synthesis of a related alkaloid system