Germacrene

Chemical compound

Chemical compound

Germacrenes are a class of volatile organic hydrocarbons, specifically, sesquiterpenes. Germacrenes are typically produced in a number of plant species for their antimicrobial and insecticidal properties, though they also play a role as insect pheromones. Two prominent molecules are germacrene A and germacrene D.

Structures

Germacrene has five isomers.

Natural occurrences

The essential oils of red deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)^[1] and hedgenettles (genus Stachys)^[2] are characterized by their high contents of germacrene D, as is Clausena anisata. It is also a major component of patchouli oil.

References

1. Flamini, G.; Cioni, P. L.; Morelli, I. (2005). "Composition of the essential oils and in vivo emission of volatiles of four Lamium species from Italy: L. purpureum, L. hybridum, L. bifidum and L. amplexicaule". Food Chemistry. 91 (1): 63–68. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.05.047.
2. Morteza‐Semnani, K.; Akbarzadeh, M.; Changizi, Sh. (2005-11-01). "Essential oils composition of Stachys byzantina, S. inflata, S. lavandulifolia and S. laxa from Iran". Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 21 (2): 300–303. doi:10.1002/ffj.1594.

Further reading

General

• Adio, A. M. (2009). "Germacrenes A–E and related compounds: thermal, photochemical and acid induced transannular cyclizations". Tetrahedron. 65 (8): 1533–1552. doi:10.1016/j.tet.2008.11.050.

Germacrene A

• Deguerry, F.; Pastore, L.; Wu, S.; Clark, A.; Chappell, J.; Schalk, M. (2006-10-15). "The diverse sesquiterpene profile of patchouli, Pogostemon cablin, is correlated with a limited number of sesquiterpene synthases". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 454 (2): 123–136. doi:10.1016/j.abb.2006.08.006. PMID 16970904.
• Omura, H.; Honda, K.; Feeny, P. (2006-09-01). "From terpenoids to aliphatic acids: further evidence for late-instar switch in osmeterial defense as a characteristic trait of swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Papilionini". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 32 (9): 1999–2012. doi:10.1007/s10886-006-9124-x. PMID 16902823. S2CID 25242966.
• Forcat, S.; Allemann, R. K. (2006-07-07). "Stabilisation of transition states prior to and following eudesmane cation in aristolochene synthase". Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 4 (13): 2563–2567. doi:10.1039/b604147g. PMID 16791319.
• Bertea, C. M.; Voster, A.; Verstappen, F. W.; Maffei, M.; Beekwilder, J.; Bouwmeester, H. J. (2006-04-15). "Isoprenoid biosynthesis in Artemisia annua: cloning and heterologous expression of a germacrene A synthase from a glandular trichome cDNA library". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 448 (1–2): 3–12. doi:10.1016/j.abb.2006.02.026. PMID 16579958.
• Lou, Y; Baldwin, I. T. (2006-03-01). "Silencing of a germin-like gene in Nicotiana attenuata improves performance of native herbivores". Plant Physiology. 140 (3): 1126–1136. doi:10.1104/pp.105.073700. PMC 1400569. PMID 16461381.
• Chang, Y.-J.; Jin, J.; Nam, H.-Y.; Kim, S.-U. (2005-03-01). "Point mutation of (+)-germacrene A synthase from Ixeris dentata". Biotechnology Letters. 27 (5): 285–288. doi:10.1007/s10529-005-0681-9. PMID 15834787. S2CID 21959582.

Germacrene D

• Rivero Cruz, B.; Rivero Cruz, I; Rodríguez, J. M.; Cerda García-Rojas, C. M.; Mata, R. (2006-08-01). "Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the active components of the essential oil from 'Brickellia veronicaefolia by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy". Journal of Natural Products. 69 (8): 1172–1176. doi:10.1021/np060180b. PMID 16933870.
• Yang, F.-Q.; Li, S.-P.; Chen, Y.; Lao, S.-C.; Wang, Y.-T.; Dong, T.-T.; Tsim, K.-W. (2005-09-15). "Identification and quantitation of eleven sesquiterpenes in three species of Curcuma rhizomes by pressurized liquid extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry". Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis. 39 (3–4): 552–558. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2005.05.001. PMID 15946818.
• Umlauf, D.; Zapp, J.; Becker, H.; Adam, K. P. (2004-09-01). "Biosynthesis of the irregular monoterpene artemisia ketone, the sesquiterpene germacrene D and other isoprenoids in Tanacetum vulgare L. (Asteraceae)". Phytochemistry. 65 (17): 2463–2470. Bibcode:2004PChem..65.2463U. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2004.08.019. PMID 15381410.
• Agnihotri, V. K.; Thappa, R. K.; Meena, B.; Kapahi, B. K.; Saxena, R. K.; Qazi, G. N.; Agarwal, S. G. (2004-08-01). "Essential oil composition of aerial parts of Angelica glauca growing wild in North-West Himalaya (India)". Phytochemistry. 65 (16): 2411–2413. Bibcode:2004PChem..65.2411A. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2004.07.004. PMID 15381015.
• Raal, A.; Paaver, U.; Arak, E.; Orav, A. (2004). "Content and composition of the essential oil of Thymus serpyllum L. growing wild in Estonia". Medicina (Kaunas). 40 (8): 795–800. PMID 15300002.
• He, X.; Cane, D. E. (2004-03-10). "Mechanism and stereochemistry of the germacradienol/germacrene D synthase of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 126 (9): 2678–2679. doi:10.1021/ja039929k. PMID 14995166.
• Arimura, G.-I.; Huber, D. P. W.; Bohlmann, J. (2004). "Forest tent caterpillars (Malacosoma disstria) induce local and systemic diurnal emissions of terpenoid volatiles in hybrid poplar (Populus trichocarpa × deltoides): cDNA cloning, functional characterization, and patterns of gene expression of (−)-germacrene D synthase, PtdTPS1". The Plant Journal. 37 (4): 603–616. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2003.01987.x. PMID 14756770.