Longiberine and O-methyllongiberine, dimeric protoberberine-benzyl tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids from Thalictrum longistylum(1).

Two benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline-protoberberine dimers, longiberine (1) and O-methyllongiberine (2), were isolated from the roots of Thalictrum longistylum and represent a new class of dimeric alkaloids. The structure of longiberine (1) was established by spectral and chemical methods. Reductive cleavage of O-ethyllongiberine (4) with Na/liquid NH(3) yielded (+)-(S)-N-methylcoclaurine (5), which determined one-half of the dimer, and 1D and 2D NMR studies arranged the substituents on the protoberberine nucleus. Chemical conversion of thalidezine (6) to 1 via the O-acetyl N,N-didemethyl derivative 9, which was methylenated in the Mannich reaction and N-methylated by the Eschweiler-Clarke procedure, established the second asymmetric center as S and confirmed the ring size and the order of the substituents for 1. Methylation of 1 with diazomethane formed the O-methyl derivative 2, identical with the natural product.