The Beaver as Chemist: Total Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Nupharamine Alkaloids from Castoreum

The Beaver as Chemist: Total Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Nupharamine Alkaloids from Castoreum

(PhysOrg.com) -- Castoreum, the dried scent glands of the Canadian beaver, was once one of the most valuable scent components derived from animals. Castoreum contains a complex mixture of substances, including a number of compounds known as nupharamine alkaloids. Many of these have been structurally characterized. Researchers working with Horst Kunz at the University of Mainz (Germany) have now, as they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, determined the stereochemistry (precise spatial structure) of another castoreum component by using a total synthesis. A total synthesis is the complete chemical synthesis of a complex organic natural substance from simple, easily attainable starting materials.