N-Acetylcolchinol Methyl Ether (a Natural Product); Suhailamine (a Phantom Natural Product)

The reported characterization data for the allocolchicinoid alkaloid suhailamine, isolated from Colchicum decaisnei and known to have an erroneous structure, have been reanalyzed. This analysis has led to the current proposal that suhailamine has the same structure as N-acetylcolchinol methyl ether (NCME), an assertion that is supported by comparison with previously reported data for NCME. Suhailamine is therefore a phantom natural product, while NCME represents a naturally occurring allocolchicinoid rather than a purely synthetic entity.