Isolation, Identification, and Chemical Synthesis of 6α-Hydroxyraumacline: A Novel Alkaloid from Cultivated Rauwolfia serpentina Cells

From Rauwolfia serpentina cells cultivated in the presence of ajmaline (2) the new indole alkaloid, 6α-hydroxyraumacline (1), was isolated. This alkaloid also occurs in significant amounts in the nutrition medium. A simple chemical synthesis of 1 was developed starting from ajmaline (2)