Toxins in Nature - Natural Products Chemistry: Sources, Separations, and Structures - page 158

(c)
FIGURE 14.4 (Continued) Examples of toxic plant species. (c) The plant Aritsolochia
littoralis . (Courtesy of Steven Foster.)
14.2 TOXIC MUSHROOM: AMAnitA S P.
The most toxic mushrooms are of the Amanita species ( A. verosa, A. verna , and
A. phalloides ). Just one mushroom cap can be fatal if ingested. The toxins in these
mushrooms are identified as cyclic peptides. The structure of α-amanitin is shown in
Figure 14.5, and careful isolation from the amanita mushroom is shown as follows:
Isolation
Ground mushroom
Extract with 1:1 v/v methanol-water
Retain the supernatant
Column chromatography
Powdered cellulose mixed with acetone
Solvent: 20:6:5:1 parts of methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, water, and butanol
α- Amanitin and β- Amanitin