Production mechanism of proepitheaflagallin, a precursor of benzotropolone-type black tea pigment, derived from epigallocatechin via a bicyclo[3.2.1]octane-type intermediate

An unstable intermediate proepitheaflagallin B (2), a precursor of proepitheaflagallin (3), was isolated as an enzymatic oxidation product of (−)-epigallocatechin (1), and the structure of 2 was determined based on spectroscopic data. The structure and its decomposition revealed that the detailed production mechanism of proepitheaflagallin (3) via a bicyclo[3.2.1]octane-type intermediate was related to that of major black tea pigments, theaflavins.