Piceol is a phenolic compound found in the needles and in mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces (''
Picea abies
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...
'').
Picein is the
glucoside of piceol.
Uses
Piceol is used in the synthesis of several pharmaceutical drugs including
octopamine,
sotalol,
bamethan, and
dyclonine.
Piceol can be used to make
acetaminophen by condensation with
hydroxylamine and subsequent
Beckmann rearrangement in acid.
Anticonvulsants are also possible by
Mannich reaction:
Metabolism
Diprenylated derivatives of piceol can be isolated from ''
Ophryosporus macrodon''.
is an enzyme that transforms piceol into O-acetyl
hydroquinone
Hydroquinone, also known as benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene, having the chemical formula C6H4(OH)2. It has two hydroxyl groups bonded to a benzene ring in a ''para' ...
. This enzyme is found in ''
Pseudomonas fluorescens''.
See also
*
Paroxypropione, where the
acetyl
In organic chemistry, an acetyl group is a functional group denoted by the chemical formula and the structure . It is sometimes represented by the symbol Ac (not to be confused with the element actinium). In IUPAC nomenclature, an acetyl grou ...
group is replaced by a
propionyl group.
*
Apocynin
References
{{Reflist
Aromatic ketones
4-Hydroxyphenyl compounds