A study of the lactone systems of some picrotoxin derivatives

Abstract

Picrotoxin is a bitter principle which is obtained from the berries of certain East Indian creepers e.g. Anamirta Cocoula. It possesses marked physiological properties, and is used by the natives as a fish poison. This physiological activity, allied to a bitter taste, originally led to the belief that picrotoxin was an alkaloid; but it was subsequently shown to contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Picrotoxin belongs to a group of natural products which are remarkable for their high oxygen content: this group is sometimes referred to as the "oxygen alkaloids. Members of this group (the amaroids) include -