A review of antioxidant and pharmacological properties of phenolic compounds in Acacia confusa

In the present review article, the phytochemical, antioxidant and pharmacological studies are congregated and summarized concerning the current knowledge of the phenolic compounds of a traditional medical plant Acacia confusa in Taiwan. This plant is native to Taiwan and South-East Asia. It possesses major pharmacological activities, including antioxidant and radical scavenging activity, hepatoprotective effect, xanthine oxidase inhibition, semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase inhibition, angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibition, antihyperuricemic effect and anti-inflammatory activity. Phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids, flavonol glycoside and phenolic acid derivatives, are the main phytochemical compounds isolated from different plant parts of A. confusa. Recent interest in this species has focused on pharmacological investigations of the phytochemicals which exhibit potent antioxidant activity based on the multiple phenolic functionalities. The consequence of this review will further extend the potential applications of this plant and offer persuasive support to its future use in the fields of clinical medicine and health functional food.

NMR spectral assignments of a new chlorotryptamine alkaloid and its analogues from Acacia confusa

A new chlorotryptamine alkaloid, N-chloromethyl-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, was isolated from a methanol extract of the Chinese shrub Acacia confusa Merr., together with its known hallucinogenic analogues, N-methyltryptamine, N,N-dimethyltryptamine and N,N-dimethyltryptamine-N-oxide. The new compound was an artefact of the isolation conditions. The complete (1)H and (13)C NMR assignments for these compounds were carried out using (1)H, (13)C, DEPT, gCOSY, gHSQC and gHMBC NMR experiments.