THE INCORPORATION OF PUTRESCINE INTO HYOSCYAMINE

Abstract

Putrescine-1,4- 14 C was fed to the excised root cultures of Datura metel L., and the alkaloids subsequently isolated. These consisted of hyoscyamine, hyoscine, and a base of undetermined constitution designated as alkaloid X. All three bases were radioactive. Degradation of the hyoscyamine revealed that ca. 8% of the radioactivity was present in the tropic acid moiety, but that all the radioactivity of the tropine moiety was located in the pyrrolidine ring. The implications of these results are discussed.