A New Essential Oil from the Native Andean Species Nectandra laurel Klotzsch ex Nees of Southern Ecuador: Chemical and Enantioselective Analyses

Abstract

The leaves of Nectandra laurel Klotzsch ex Nees, belonging to the family, Lauraceae, were collected in the province of Loja (Ecuador), dried, and analytically steam-distilled. An unprecedented essential oil was obtained, with a 0.03% yield by weight of dry plant material. The volatile fraction was submitted to qualitative (GC-MS) and quantitative (GC-FID) chemical analysis, on two orthogonal stationary phases. Seventy-eight compounds were detected and quantified on at least one column. The essential oil was dominated by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (53.0–53.8% on the non-polar and polar stationary phase, respectively), followed by oxygenated sesquiterpenoids (18.9–19.0%). A third group was constituted by metabolites of other origins, mainly aliphatic compounds, apparently derived from the acetate pathway (11.7–8.5%). The major components of the EO (≥3.0% with at least one column) were δ-selinene (30.5–28.8%), δ-cadinene (5.4–6.4%), epi-α-cadinol (4.9–5.2%), an undetermined compound with a molecular weight of 204 (3.4–4.2%), α-pinene (3.3–2.9%), and α-cadinol (2.9–3.0%). Finally, the essential oil was submitted to enantioselective analysis, on two β-cyclodextrin-based chiral selectors, determining the enantiomeric distribution of seven chiral terpenes. Among them, (1R,5R)-(+)-α-pinene, (1R,5R)-(+)-β-pinene, and (R)-(−)-α-phellandrene were enantiomerically pure, whereas camphene, borneol, α-copaene, and α-terpineol were present as scalemic mixtures.

New Essential Oils from Ecuadorian Gynoxys cuicochensis Cuatrec. and Gynoxys sancti-antonii Cuatrec. Chemical Compositions and Enantioselective Analyses

“…Therefore, a great biodiversity evolved in this region, producing an incredible number of so far unprecedented botanical species from a chemical point of view. , This situation led the United Nations to declare Ecuador as one of the 17 “megadiverse” countries in the world . For these reasons, our group has been investigating natural products for about 20 years, with the purpose of enhancing and preserving the Ecuadorian flora through the knowledge of its phytochemistry and, possibly, the discovery of pharmacologically interesting metabolites. , During the past few years, we mainly focused on the description of new essential oils (EOs), with emphasis on their chemical and enantiomeric compositions, olfactometric profiles, and biological activities. − Being centered on phytochemistry and chemotaxonomy, high distillation yields, or agricultural availability are not usually leading criteria of plant selection for our research. In this perspective, the present study belonged to un unfunded project, dealing on the systematic description of new EOs from 12 plants of the genus Gynoxys Cuatrec.…”

Chemical and Enantioselective Analyses of an Unprecedented Essential Oil from Ecuadorian Aiouea montana: A Natural Source of S-Methyl-O-2-phenylethyl Carbonothioate

“…Furthermore, the climatic change and the unwise exploitation of natural resources make the awareness about biodiversity an urgent need. Therefore, with the aim of contributing to the discovery of new natural products, our group has been studying the phytochemistry of the Ecuadorian biodiversity for more than 20 years. , In the past few years, our interest was focused on the description of new essential oils (EOs), with emphasis on their chemical and enantiomeric compositions, mainly from a biochemical point of view. − The present investigation was conducted in the same context, and it raised from the evidence that the leaves of Aiouea montana (Sw.) R. Rohde emitted a strong sulfurous odor all year long, suggesting the presence of uncommon volatile metabolites in high amounts. Furthermore, no bibliographical information was found in this respect, opening the way to possibly interesting results.…”