Several species from the Apocynaceae family, such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana, and many Tabernaemontana species, produce ibogan type alkaloids, some of which present antiaddictive properties. In this study, we used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to examine the efficiency of methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, chloroform, and hydrochloric acid in extracting the antiaddictive compounds coronaridine, ibogamine, voacangine, and ibogaine (altogether the CIVI-complex) from the root barks of Tabernaemontana alba and Tabernaemontana arborea. These Mexican species have recently shown great potential as alternative natural sources of the aforementioned substances. Methanol proved to be the most suitable solvent. Furthermore, the crude methanolic extracts could be engaged in a one-step demethoxycarbonylation process that converted coronaridine and voacangine directly into its non-carboxylic counterparts ibogamine and ibogaine, respectively, without the intermediacy of their carboxylic acids. The established protocol straightforwardly simplifies the alkaloid mixture from four to two majority compounds. In summary, our findings facilitate and improve both the qualitative and quantitative analysis of CIVI-complex-containing plant material, as well as outlining a viable method for the bulk production of these scientifically and pharmaceutically important substances from Mexican Tabernaemontana species.
Keywords: CIVI-complex; Tabernaemontana (Apocynaceae); alkaloids; ibogaine; phytochemistry.
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