3,7-Isoquinoline quinones from the ascidian tunicate Ascidia virginea.

A new isoquinoline quinone system and its iodinated derivatives were isolated from the ascidian tunicate Ascidia virginea Müller 1776 (Phlebobranchia: Ascidiidae). Structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and derivatization reactions. Ascidine A (3,7-dihydro-1,8-dihydroxy-4-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)isoquinoline-3,7-dione (1), ascidine B (3,7-dihydro-1,8-dihydroxy-4-(4'-hydroxy-3'-iodophenyl)isoquinoline-3,7-dione (2), and ascidine C (3,7-dihydro-1,8-dihydroxy-4-(4'-hydroxy-3',5'-diiodophenyl)isoquinoline-3,7-dione (3) represent a novel type of tyrosine-derived alkaloids.

Essential oil composition of smyrnium olusatrum.

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of green and ripe fruits, herb, flowers and roots of Smyrnium olusatrum (alexanders), have been analyzed by means of GC, GC-MS, and NMR spectroscopic methods. Roots, herb and flowers are characterized by a high content of oxygenated sesquiterpenoids, most of them furanosesquiterpenoids, while green and ripe fruits are dominated by monoterpene hydrocarbons with beta-phellandrene and alpha-pinene as major constituents. The furanosesquiterpenoids, comprising a high proportion of furanodiene and isofuranogermacrene, are present in all parts of the plant.