Bidyut Basak

Saradaferin, a new sesquiterpenoid coumarin from Ferula assafoetida

Phytochemical investigation of the gum resin of Ferula assafoetida resulted in the isolation and characterization of a new sesquiterpenoid coumarin, Saradaferin (1) named as [Decahydro-(3-α-hydroxy-4,4,10-trimethyl-8-methylene-9-naphthenyl)-α-hydroxymethyl] ether of umbelliferone.

Identification of amino acids with modified ninhydrin reagents on thin-layer chromatography plates

The four new spray reagents (Benzoic acid and some of its parahaloderivatives) have been introduced. These reagents enable convenient and easy detection of amino acids on thin-layer chromatography plates by developing distinguishable colors with very high sensitivity.

Use of ninhydrin for detection of silylated amino acids

Protein structure elucidation is very dependent on the detection of its constituent amino acids, because these are the structural units of proteins. They are also found in the free state in a different natural products. Several specific and non-specific reagents have been reported for detection of amino acids [1–6]; of these, ninhydrin is a widely accepted non-specific reagent with high sensitivity. The formation of an identical color (purple/violet) with all amino acids except proline and hydroxy proline is, however, a problem if specific detection of the amino acids is required.