The minor alkaloids, (+)-plicamine and (-)-secoplicamine, from Galanthus plicatus subsp. byzantinus are the first examples of dinitrogenous alkaloids where the oxygen atom in position 7 of the basic tazettine molecule has been replaced by a nitrogen atom substituted by a pendant 4-hydroxyphenethyl moiety. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.