Potential anticancer agents XXXI. N-demethylation of fagaronine.

Fusion of fagaronine (1) afforded N-demethyl fagaronine (2) and two minor desmethyl products. Through examination of spectral properties and derivatization, the structures were deduced to be 3, a tetramethoxy derivative, and 5, a derivative bearing a hydroxy (rather than a methoxy) group at position-8. Acetylation of 2 afforded a monoacetate derivative (4), and similarly, a diacetate (6) was produced from 5.