Chemical synthesis of bioactive polyamines from solanaceous plants.

Among the biologically active compounds isolated from medicinal plants are polyamine derivatives that show antihypertensive or antitumour activity. We have used previously available reagents to modify selectively spermidine, homospermidine and spermine backbones. Chemical synthesis of several naturally occurring derivatives has been achieved by simple, efficient procedures that can be used to produce high yields. This has facilitated evaluation of the structure-activity relationships of polyamines.