Alkaloids from Papaver armeniacum, P. fugax and P. tauricola

Species from the section Miltantha are reviewed in the context of their contained alkaloids. Thebaine was isolated as the major alkaloid from a sample of P. fugax together with narcotine, pronuciferine, alpinigenine, O-ethylalpinigenine, amurensinine, N-methyl-crotonosine, armepavine, isocorydine and salutaridine as minor alkaloids. A second sample of P. fugax contained glaucamine and glaudine as major alkaloids with rhoeadine, oreogenine, oreodine and O-ethyl-glaucamine as minor alkaloids. Pronuciferine and armepavine were isolated as the major alkaloids from a sample of P. tauricola with narcotine, roemerine, nuciferine, nantenine and protopine as minor alkaloids. Another sample of P. tauricola yielded pronuciferine and mecambrine as major alkaloids with armepavine, lirinidine, thebaine and cryptopine as minor alkaloids. A sample of P. armeniacum contained rhoeadine and rhoeagenine as major alkaloids with lirinidine, cryptopine, glaudine and O-ethylrhoeagenine as minor alkaloids. Some 25 alkaloids representing 9 different alkaloidal-types were obtained from extracts of the three Miltantha species. The results show that at least three different chemical races of P. fugax and P. armeniacum exist in which either 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline-, proaporphine-, aporphine- or morphinane- or rhoeadine- types are the major alkaloids. There are at least two different chemical strains of P. tauricola which contain either 1-beuzyltetrahydroisoquinoline-, proaporphine-, aporphine- or rhoeadine- types as the major alkaloids.