CURRENT LANDSCAPE OF THE SPECTROSCOPIC AND PHOTOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF β-CARBOLINE ALKALOIDS IN AQUEOUS MEDIA TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THEIR BIOLOGICAL ROLE. REVIEW

JUAN G. YAÑUK; FERNANDO D. VILLARRUEL; M. LIS ALOMAR; FEDERICO A. O. RASSE-SURIANI; M. MICAELA GONZALEZ; LOREAN MADRIZ; RONALD VARGAS; ROSA ERRA-BALSELLS; M. PAULA DENOFRIO; FRANCO M. CABRERIZO

Journal of the Argentine Chemical Society

ASOCIACIÓN QUÍMICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2020

0365-0375

β-carbolines (βCs) comprise a large variety of naturally occurring alkaloids structurally related to 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole or norharmane, widely spread in a vast range of phylogenetically distant species, including phototrophic organisms. Despite their abundance in nature and the well-established relevance of these alkaloids, their photochemical and photobiological properties as well as their main biological role remain unclear. Moreover, in most of the cases, the fundamental aspects and molecular basis of the mechanisms involved still remain poorly understood. In this review, we summarize the most relevant spectroscopic, chemical and photochemical properties observed in aqueous environment for a representative set of full-aromatic, dihydro- and tetrahydro-βCs. All the fundamental aspects herein discussed provide key insights to theorize and/or surmise about the biological role that these compounds might have.