Venom Chemistry of the Ant Myrmicaria melanogaster from Brunei

Journal of Natural Products
2007.0

Abstract

Analysis of the extracts of the ant Myrmicaria melanogaster from Brunei in the Indonesian archipelago by GC-MS and GC-IR revealed the presence of five new alkaloids, identified as (9Z)-3-propylindolizidine (1), cis- and trans-2-butyl-5-propylpyrrolidine (2 and 3, respectively), (10E)-3-butyllehmizidine (7), and (5Z,8Z,9Z)-3-butyl-5-propyl-8-hydroxyindolizidine (10a), whose structures were established by comparison with synthetic samples. In addition the monoterpene hydrocarbons beta-pinene, myrcene, and limonene were detected along with all four isomers of 3-butyl-5-methylindolizidine (4a-d), cis- and trans-2-butyl-5-(4-pentenyl)pyrrolidine (5a and 5b), trans-2-butyl-5-pentylpyrrolidine (6), (5Z,9Z)-3-butyl-5-propylindolizidine (8), and (5Z,9E)-3-butyl-5-propylindolizidine (9), alkaloids well known from ants and frogs, whose structures were established on the basis of published spectra or comparison with authentic samples. This study utilized vapor-phase infrared analysis for the assignment of stereochemistry using Bohlmann bands for the bicyclic alkaloids and, in the case of 10a, the detection of an intramolecular hydrogen bond. A biogenetic relationship between the mono- and bicyclic ring systems is proposed.

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