Acridone alkaloids are

natural products A natural product is a natural compound or substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural products can also be prepared by chemical s ...

derived from

acridone Acridone is an organic compound based on the acridine skeleton, with a carbonyl group at the ''9'' position. Synthesis and structure The molecule is planar. Optical spectra reveal that the keto tautomer predominates in the gas-phase and in ethanol ...

Occurrence

Acridone alkaloids are found in bark, wood, leaves and roots of rue plants, especially in roots and suspension cultures of

rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for i ...

Examples

This group is named after the

. Further members are acronycin, melicopicine and rutacridone, among others:{{cite web, title=Acridone alkaloid biosynthesis, periodical=, publisher=, url=https://www.genome.jp/kegg/pathway/map/map01058.html, url-status=dead, format=, access-date=22 April 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612075938/https://www.genome.jp/kegg/pathway/map/map01058.html, archive-date=12 June 2020, last=, date=, year=, language=en, pages=, quote=

Acronycine Structural Formula V1.svg, Acronycin Melicopicine Structural Formula V1.svg, Melicopicine Rutacridone Structural Formula V1.svg, Rutacridon

Properties

Many acridone alkaloids are

methylated Methylation, in the chemical sciences, is the addition of a methyl group on a substrate, or the substitution of an atom (or group) by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replacing a hydrogen atom. These term ...

on the

nitrogen atom Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seventh in ...

and also have two oxygen

functional groups In organic chemistry, a functional group is any substituent or moiety (chemistry), moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions r ...

, which can be free, alkylated or incorporated into rings. Acridone alkaloids show a blue-green fluorescence so that they can be detected with UV light. Some alkaloids of this group are effective against malaria pathogens. Furthermore, acronycin inhibits

cell division Cell division is the process by which a parent cell (biology), cell divides into two daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle in which the cell grows and replicates its chromosome(s) before dividing. In eukar ...

References

Alkaloids by chemical classification