2 NEW INDOLOQUINOLINE ALKALOIDS FROM CRYPTOLEPIS-SANGUINOLENTA - CRYPTOSANGUINOLENTINE AND CRYPTOTACKIEINE

The roots of the indigenous West African shrub Cryptolepis sanguinolen ta have proved to be a rich source of indoloquinoline alkaloids. To da te, all of the alkaloids isolated have been analogs of indolo[3,2-b]qu inoline. We now wish to report examples of two new indoloquinoline alk aloids which differ in the fusion of the indole and quinoline rings. T he first, cryptosanguinolentine, is an angular indolo[3,2-c]quinoline. The second, cryptotackieine, is a linear indolo[2,3-b]quinoline syste m. Both of these families of alkaloids are without precedent from C. s anguinolenta. The structures of both were established through the exte nsive use of inverse-detected micro nmr methods.