(2E,4E)-6-(4-メトキシフェニル)-N-(2-メチルプロピル)-2,4-ヘキサジエンアミド

説明This alkaloid was first isolated from Piper ovaturn and assigned the empirical formula C16H2102N, later changed to that given above by Price and Pinder who also discover the base in Ottonia vehlii Kth. The alkaloid crystallizes from Et20 in colourless needles and has an ultraviolet spectrum containing a single broad absorption maximum at 262 mil. In the unsaturated side chain, both of the double bonds are trans. According to Cash, the alkaloid is a temporary depressant of motor and sensory nerve fibres and of sensory nerve endings. It has the effect of a heart poison and also as a spinal cord stimulant in frogs bringing about a tonic spasm somewhat similar to that induced by strychnine.