SESQUITERPENE HYDROCARBONS IN THE LIVERWORT DUMORTIERA-HIRSUTA

From a sample of the liverwort Dumortiera hirsuta (Sw.) Nees collected near Sao Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) a series of s esquiterpene hydrocarbons was isolated by preparative gas chromatograp hy (GC) and investigated by spectroscopic methods and 2-dimensional GC (2D-GC) using a combination of a conventional polysiloxane capillary column and a capillary with a cyclodextrin derivative. Some rare sesqu iterpenes such as (-)-cyclosativene, (+)-beta-copaene, (-)-aristoloche ne, (+)-aciphyllene and (-)-isoguaiene were identified as well as the unusual enantiomers (+)-alpha-copaene, (+)-cis-alpha-bergamotene, (+)- trans-alpha-bergamotene, (+)-alpha-guaiene; (+)-guaia-6,9-diene and ()-beta-caryophyllene. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.