NASHVILLE, April 16 (UPI) -- U.S. chemists say they have developed an efficient technique to produce the synthesized herbal alkaloid Serratezomine from the club moss Lycopodium serratum.
Vanderbilt University researchers said the moss -- a creeping, flowerless plant used in homeopathic medicine -- contains potent alkaloids. But the plant makes many of the compounds in extremely low amounts, hindering efforts to test their therapeutic value.
The scientists said their technique to synthesize Serratezomine is important because the alkaloid might have anti-cancer properties and could combat memory loss. The scientists said it took six years to develop the process because they had to invent entirely new chemical methods to complete the synthesis. But they said their success should make it easier to synthesize alkaloids and other natural compounds with therapeutic potential.
"This was a challenging problem," said Professor Jeffrey Johnston, who led the research. 'It takes years to develop a new chemical reaction and then apply it to the natural product target. So, once we start, we don't stop."
The study that included Aroop Chandra; Julie Pigza, Jeong-Seok Han and Daniel Mutnickwas was reported in the March 18 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
