Natural products from Bolivian plants and other sources

Abstract: The present research was focused on the phytochemical research of Bolivian plants; a) two medicinal ones Aniba canelilla and Iryanthera juruensis, both plants showed to have compounds with biological activity in different fields. Even though Aniba canelilla was studied before, new compounds were identified in this investigation. The different active compounds found in Iryanthera juruensis seems to be responsible of the medicinal properties attributed to this plant. And b) potential economic plants, Heliconia episcopalis, Rheedia acuminata, Cyathea boliviana, and Menta nativa (identification in progress) where the first two plants gave new compounds, the third one doesn?t show interesting compounds, the essential oil of Menta nativa showed to be an important source for the b isomer of thujone. A general overview indicates that Heliconia episcopalis, Rheedia acuminata and Menta nativa have potential economic applications. The thesis also reflects the participation on the structure elucidation process of new compounds from the spice Silphion persicum and the fungi Myrothecium roridum. A review of the medicinal plants used by the association of traditional medicine practitioners (AMETRAC) in Apillapampa and the scientific research done is also included in the thesis, we found that phytochemical studies of Bolivian medicinal plants is essentially an unexplored field. During our studies we identified the formation of atomic oxygen adducts (AOA) in the electrospray mass spectrometry measurements (ESIMS), this phenomenon very frequent especially in substances that have double bonds and isoprenyl groups, which are very common in natural products. The phenomenon and potential future applications are discussed as well.