Isolation, semi-synthesis, and NMR spectral studies of loline alkaloids

Loline, a saturated pyrrolizidine-type alkaloid, was isolated from tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) seed infected with the endophytic fungus Acremonium coenophialum. Procedures are described for the efficient conversion of loline to derivatives also known to occur naturally. The loline akaloids are of interest as they are suspected contributors to several disease syndromes in cattle that consume endophypte-infected tall fescue