Zur Biosynthese des Strychnins. 135. Mitteilung über Alkaloide

From the feeding of young plants of Strychnos nux‐vomica with [ 14 C]‐1‐and [ 14 C]‐2‐acetate it could be deduced that the C‐atoms 22 and 23 were derived from acetate. [ 14 C]‐2‐mevalonate, [ 14 C]‐2‐geraniol and [ 14 C]‐2‐geranyl pyrophosphate were also incorporated into strychnine. The distribution of radioactivity in the «mevalonate‐strychnine» was in agreement with the monoterpenoid hypothesis. Feeding experiments especially with [ 14 C]‐tryptophane showed that the main production centre of the alkaloid lay in the roots and that only a small part of it was carried to the leaves. Tritium labelled W IELAND G UMLICH aldehyde as well as N (a) ‐[ 14 C]‐1‐acetyl W IELAND G UMLICH aldehyde were not converted into strychnine by S. nux‐vomica .