Phototransformation products of the alkaloid lappaconitine: Multinuclear NMR study

The NMR technique has been applied to characterize the phototransformation products of the natural alkaloid lappaconitine. It was demonstrated that the photolysis of lappaconitine 1 results in cleavage of the ester bond with elimination of N-acetylanthranilic acid. The final reaction product was found to be an immonium salt 4 of N-acetylanthranilic acid and enamine 3. An equilibrium between the imine cation and the enamine 3 was detected.