Identification of taxanes in extracts from leaves of Taxus baccata L. using (13)C-NMR spectroscopy.
BACKGROUND
The study of taxanes is a hot topic worldwide because of their potential activity against cancer. Analysis of taxanes in extracts of various Taxus species is generally achieved using HPLC.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the current work was to identify taxanes in different fractions of extracts from Taxus baccata L. using the computer-aided analysis of their( 13)C-NMR spectra.


METHODS
A computerised procedure, based on (13)C-NMR spectroscopy using literature data, has been developed in order to identify taxoids in natural mixtures. Leaves and twigs of T. baccata were extracted with various solvents and the extracts were fractionated according to rapid fractionation schemes described in the literature.


RESULTS
The computer-assisted analysis of the (13)C-NMR spectra of the fractions of chromatography led to the identification of 16 taxanes belonging to the taxine, taxicine, taxinine and taxuspine families.


CONCLUSIONS
It has been shown that (13)C-NMR is a powerful alternative tool for the identification of taxanes in extracts of leaves and twigs of various Taxus species after a rapid fractionation step.
Duquesnoy
Emilie
E
Université de Corse-CNRS, UMR 6134 SPE, Equipe Chimie et Biomasse, Route des Iles Sanguinaires, 20000 Ajaccio, France.
Paoli
Mathieu
M
Castola
Vincent
V
Bighelli
Ange
A
Casanova
Joseph
J