Coprorhodin II trimethyl ester has been prepared and its chemical and spectroscopic properties examined. Autoxidation of coprorhodin yields coproverdin while reduction with sodium borohydride affords a secondary alcohol which readily dehydrates under aerobic conditions to furnish a benzo-chlorin. The chemistry of these derivatives of coprorhodin has been studied.

A study of the oxidative cyclization of 13C-labelled bilenes-b substituted with a methyl group at one terminal position and a formyl equivalent at the other, e.g. (1), has clearly established that the methyl group provides the carbon atom to complete the ring system. The basic mechanism of this reaction is discussed.

SPECIALIAThe editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed in the authors' brief reports. -Les auteurs sont seuls responsables des opinions exprimres dans ces brrves communications. -Ftir die Kurzmitteilungen ist ausschliesslich der Autor verantwortlich. -Per le brevi comunicazioni 6 responsabile solo l'autore. A. selaginoides 1 is confined to the mountainous regions of western Tasmania, where some specimens grow up to 40 m high and are over 1000 years old. Iia the field, foliage and bark samples gave moderately strong alkaloid tests, but after collection, the test rapidly became weaker and disappeared completely after a few days: it appeared that the alkaloids present were being destroyed by enzyme action. This effect could be minimized by roughly commi= nuting the freshly collected material as rapidly as possible, then soaking it in methanol for some days before extraction. The methanol extracts were worked up by standard means, and yielded 2 crystalline bases, alkaloid A, The PMR-spectrum of alkaloid A shows the presence of 2 methoxyl groups, and other data, including the IR and CMR spectra, indicate that the remaining 2 oxygens are in a lactone ring. The nitrogen is present in a tertiary amino group, since there are no exchangeable protons in the PMR spectrum and all 23 protons are accounted for as being attached to carbon in the CMR spectrum. The latter also gives evidence of 6 aromatic or olefinic carbons, 2 of which are quaternary; there is, however, only a I-proton signal, a singlet, in the aromatic region of the PMR spectrum, and a 1-proton multiplet in the olefinic region. Alkaloid B also gives spectroscopic evidence of the presence of 2 methoxyl groups, and the remaining oxygens are accounted for in an acetoxyl and hydroxyl group; the presence of the latter is confirmed by acetylation. Alkaline hydrolysis of alkaloid B affords a dihydroxy compound whichcan be reacetylated to a diacetoxy derivative isomeric but not identical with the above-mentioned O-acetyl alkaloid B.Structural studies on the Athrotaxis alkaloids are still in progress, but the spectroscopic and other evidence so far available suggest that they constitute a novel series of bases with no obvious structural relationship with those from other coniferous plants, such as cephalotaxine 4, pinidine s and taxine 6.

Oxidative cyclization of bilenes -b substituted with an ethyl or propyl group at one terminal site and a formyl equivalent at the other yields substantial quantities of the meso-ethyl- or meso-propyl-porphyrin. The origin of these meso-substituents has been substantiated by a study of a deuterated analogue. The copper chelate of the meso-ethylporphyrin (2d) seems unexpectedly stable in acid allowing the formation of by- products involving the interaction of the meso-substituent and the adjacent ring ester.

In this study, 12 varieties of statice (Limonium sinuatum L.) were collected from famous flower growing areas (Van Thanh, Thai Phien, Da Thien, Ha Dong and Trai Mat) in Lam Dong. Young foliage of flowering cultivars after 45 days of planting at the experimental site was collected for DNA extraction and genetic correlation analysis using RAPD with 13 random primers. Results showed that out of 145 RAPD bands, there were 133 polymorphic bands (91.72%) and 12 monomorphic bands (8.28%). Of which, the OPB-03 primer has the highest number of amplifiers, which is 17 bands (with 16 polymorphic bands); the genetic difference coefficients ranged from 0.30 to 0.90, mean 0.55. The results of the genetic sequence analysis using NTSYSpc 2.1 showed that 12 varieties of statice were divided into 4 groups: group I consisting of 3 varieties (rose pink, dark pink and pure magenta); Group II including 2 varieties (blue violet and new violet); Group III including 6 varieties (light pink, old violet, new white, old white, light yellow and light violet); Group IV consisting only 1 variety (cadimi yellow). This result is an important database in the conservation of statice genetic resources, as well as provides the necessary information to select mutant breeding of this species in the coming time.