Isolation and Characterization of a Novel p-Coumaric Acid Ester of myo-Inositol from Needles of Taxus baccata.
A novel derivative of myo-inositol was isolated from the needles of Taxus baccata and identified as p-coumaric acid ester. By means of its levorotatory optical activity and formation of a borate complex, the compound was designated tentatively as a 1l-4-p-coumaroyl-myo-inositol. Chemotaxonomic investigations have shown this ester to be present in needles of 14 out of 34 tested species of gymnosperms. When (14)CO(2) or (14)C-myo-inositol were fed to young needles of T. baccata, there was a rapid incorporation of label in the p-coumaroyl ester, and a pulse-chase experiment indicated a substantial turnover of this compound over a 4-month period.
Dittrich
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Botanisches Institut der Universität, Menzinger Strasse 67, 8000 München 19, West Germany.
Danböck
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