HPLC-ESI-MS/MS of brain neurotransmitter modulator lobeline and related piperidine alkaloids in Lobelia inflata L.

There is a renewed interest in lobelia alkaloids because of their activity on the central nervous system. Lobeline, the most active of them, a nicotinic receptor ligand and neurotransmitter transporter inhibitor, is a candidate pharmacotherapy for metamphetamine abuse. In the present work, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in positive ion mode was used for investigating the alkaloid profile in Lobelia inflata L. Chromatographic separations were achieved on a Gemini C6-phenyl reversed-phase column providing good peak shape and improved selectivity. Being mostly 2,6-disubstituted piperidines, lobelia alkaloids presented abundant [M + H](+) ions with typical fragmentation. Identification was possible from a few specific ions, especially those resulting from excision of one of the substituents. Based on fragmentation pattern of lobeline as reference compound, 52 alkaloids were identified in the aqueous methanolic extract of L. inflata in contrast to the previously known some 20. Structural variability of these alkaloids identified arises basically from their substituents which can be phenyl-2-ketoethyl- or phenyl-2-hydroxyethyl units as well as their methyl-, ethyl- or propyl- homologues attached in different combinations. Several propyl homologue lobelia alkaloids and five hydroxypiperidine derivatives were found in the plant at the first time. In addition to 8-O-esters of 2-monosubstituted piperidine alkaloids previously reported by us in L. inflata, a 3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropanoic acid ester of hydroxyallosedamine ring-substituted was also identified as a new natural product. High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry can be successfully applied to Lobeliacae plant samples in the routine screening for new and known bioactive constituents, quality control of the crude drug, lobelia herba, alkaloid production studies, breeding and chemotaxonomy.

A highly stereoselective asymmetric synthesis of (--)-lobeline and (--)-sedamine.

A highly stereoselective asymmetric synthesis of (--)-sedamine and (--)-lobeline is described from benzaldehyde in 16 and 17 steps with an overall yield of 20% and 14%, respectively. The key intermediate syn-3,4-epoxyalcohol was prepared in a highly diastereomeric fashion (>99% ee, dr) and served as a common intermediate for both alkaloids.

Relations between structure and nicotine-like activity: X-ray crystal structure analysis of (-)-cytisine and (-)-lobeline hydrochloride and a comparison with (-)-nicotine and other nicotine-like compounds.

1. Although (-)-cytisine is a rigid structure, it occurs in the crystal in two distinct but very similar conformations in which the pyridone ring is tilted relative to the charged nitrogen atom at much the same angle as the pyridine ring is in (-)-nicotine hydrogen iodide. The carbonyl group in the pyridone ring of (-)-cytisine, however, is on the side of the ring opposite to pyridine nitrogen in (-)-nicotine. 2. The pKa of (-)-lobeline HCl at 25 degrees C is 8.6 (approx), indicating that (-)-lobeline is at least 90% in the protonated form at physiological pH (7.6). It is probably the phenyl 2-keto-ethyl part of (-)-lobeline, rather than the phenyl 2-hydroxy-ethyl part, which interacts with the receptor. 3. The combination within one molecule of a charged ('onium') nitrogen atom lying out of the plane of, and some distance (4.5-6.5 A) from, an aromatic ring is common to many compounds with nicotine-like activity (e.g. nicotine, cytisine, choline phenyl ether bromide, dimethyl-phenyl-piperazinium (DMPP) iodide, coryneine iodide and m-hydroxyphenylpropyl trimethyl ammonium iodide). In some molecules the aromatic ring can be replaced by an unsaturated group, such as carbonyl (e.g. acetylcholine) or double-bonds (e.g. anatoxin). 4. Activity at nicotinic receptors appears to involve interactions between the positively charged nitrogen atom and a negatively charged group, probably close to cysteine residues 192 and 193 in the receptor. It is suggested that rather than specific groups in the molecule also being involved, activity at nicotinic receptors depends on interactions between a flat part of the drug containing double-bonds, or systems of double bonds, and a planar area in the receptor, possibly tyrosine or phenylalanine residues.