Conformational, configurational, and supramolecular studies of podocephalol acetate from Lasianthaea aurea.

Although podocephalol (1) and its derived acetate 2 were found in Lasianthaea podocephala four decades ago, and 1 was later detected in the essential oils of several vegetal species, its absolute configuration (AC) and conformational preferences remained to be established. The structures of ar-himachalene 1, now isolated from Lasianthaea aurea, and its derived acetate 2, were herein confirmed by extensive 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, while the conformational preferences of the cycloheptene was established by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which in combination with vibrational circular dichroism measurements provided the (R) absolute configuration of the molecules. The structure and AC were further verified through the Flack and Hooft parameters calculations derived from single crystal X-ray diffraction data of 2.

Absolute configuration of (13R)- and (13S)-labdane diterpenes coexisting in Ageratina jocotepecana.

Chemical investigation of the hexanes extracts of Ageratina jocotepecana afforded (-)-(5S,9S,10S,13S)-labd-7-en-15-oic acid (1), methyl (-)-(5S,9S,10S,13S)-labd-7-en-15-oate (2), (+)-(5S,8R,9R,10S,13R)-8-hydroxylabdan-15-oic acid (3), and (-)-(5S,9S,10S,13Z)-labda-7,13-dien-15-oic acid (5). The coexistence of (13R)- and (13S)-labdanes in this member of the Asteraceae family was demonstrated by vibration circular dichroism measurements of ester 2 and methyl (+)-(5S,8R,9R,10S,13R)-8-hydroxylabdan-15-oate (4) in comparison to the DFT B3LYP/DGDZVP-calculated spectra. In addition, transformation of 1 and 3 with HClO4 in MeOH yielded epimeric methyl (+)-(5S,10S,13S)-labd-8-en-15-oate (6) and methyl (+)-(5S,10S,13R)-labd-8-en-15-oate (7), respectively, confirming the presence of C-13 epimers in this plant.