Gelegamines A-E: five new oxindole alkaloids from Gelsemium elegans

Five new oxindole alkaloids, gelegamines A-E (1-5), were isolated from the roots of Gelsemium elegans. Their structures were extensively elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. Among them, the epoxy ring (C-19/C-20) of gelegamine A (1) was assigned as α-orientation by ROESY experiment and DFT method at B3LYP/6-31g(d) level, and gelegamine B (2) is the first humantenine-type alkaloid with 19-(E) ethylidene configuration. The absolute configurations of gelegamines A-E (1-5) were established on biosynthetic consideration coupled with CD experiments.