Structural elucidation of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Onosmodium virginianum

CHED 219

Trent D. Holcomb, holcomt@eou.edu, Amanda M. Justensen, Whitney R. Parker, and Ronald B. Kelley. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Eastern Oregon University, One University Boulevard, La Grande, OR 97850
Onosmodium virginianum ranges from the coast of Louisiana to Massachusetts, inland to the Appalachian Mountains. The plant is most commonly found in sand hills, pine flatwoods, upland mixed forests, and open hemlocks. Onosmodium virginianum is in the plant family Boraginaceae. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids, potentially toxic natural secondary products, are typically found in this plant family. Through preliminary GC/MS studies of two extraction samples obtained by different sequential separation techniques, two PA's, a major one and a minor one, were found. The exact structure of the alkaloids found in the samples will be determined with NMR analysis. In conjunction with MS, data from multiple NMR experiments, including proton, carbon, and 2D techniques, will be used to elucidate their structures.