ALKALOID N-OXIDES - REVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • review article
    • Vol. 41  (5) , 385-431
Abstract
The preparation, characterization and chemistry of alkaloid N-oxides are reviewed. Because the literature on amine N-oxides is more extensive for animals than for plants, a brief resume of the pharmacology, metabolism and toxicity of N-oxides is given. Some 64 naturally occurring N-oxides representing pyrrolidine-piperidine-, pyrrolizidine-, quinolizidine-, tropane-, isoquinoline-, morphinane-, indole- and miscellaneous-type alkaloids are reviewed. These alkaloid N-oxides are additional to and, in the main, have been isolated since those described in a 1971 review. The earlier review dealt with some 56 naturally occurring N-oxides which represented mainly pyrrolizidine and indole types. The role of N-oxides in plants is discussed.