A Friedelane Type Triterpene From Prosopis africana (Guill. & Perr.) Taub. Stem Bark

Abstract

Prosopis Africana can be found growing wild in Northern and the Middle Belt of Nigeria and it is the only known species of its genus found in Africa. In folk medicine, the stem bark is used as remedies for skin diseases, caries, fevers gonorrhoea, tooth and stomach-ache, dysentery and bronchitis. Chemical investigation of the stem bark resulted in isolation and characterisation of a friedelane type triterpene, compound J29. J29 was isolated by column chromatography from the chloroform fraction of ethylacetate extract. The J29 ¹H-NMR ¹³C-NMR and DEPT135 spectra matched the characteristic data of the proposed triterpene skeleton. The compound was finally identified as friedelin on the basis of spectroscopic evidence, including 2D NMR as well as its IR spectrum. Friedelin is being reported for the first time as a chemical constituent of P. africana.

Keywords: Prosopis africana, friedelane type, phytochemical constituents, spectroscopy, chromatograph