STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION OF TETRAHYDROFURAN IC ACETOGENINS BY MEANS OF PRECURSOR-ION SCANNING METHOD

Tetrahydrofuranic(annonaceous)acetogenins are a new class of bioactive natural products isolated from several genera of Annonaceae plants. W e have isolated nearly thirty these acetogenins from the seeds of Anno na squamosa and A. reticulata. Their structures have been elucidated b y the application of precursor-ion scanning method in mass spectrometr y. Thus, these compounds were converted into lactam derivatives on tre atment with amines such as N,N-dimethylethylenediamine. Precursor-ion scanning spectra of the derivatives from a specific fragment ion due t o C-N bond cleavage were measured. This newly developed method allowed to establish unambiguously the planar structures of tetrahydrofuranic acetogenins. Biological activity and stereochemical aspects of annona ceous acetogenins are also reviewed.