Macropodumines B and C (1, 2) are fused pentacyclic alkaloids previously isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Daphniphyllum macropodum. Macropodumine B (1) possesses an amazing structural feature of a cyclopentadienyl carbanion, stabilized as a zwitterion by an internal iminium cation, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. On the basis of the X-ray geometry, the absolute configuration of 1 was determined by employing the solid-state CD/TDDFT approach. The absolute configuration of 2 was instead determined by using TDDFT CD calculations on DFT-optimized geometries, in comparison with CD spectra recorded in solution.
(c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.