Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Unit, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington NSW 2033 Australia
a School of Biochemistry, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington NSW 2033 Australia
Abstract:
An amide conjugate of o-methoxybenzoic acid and aspartic acid has been isolated from bean leaves. After extraction and methylation of plant material, this compound was isolated as two isomeric monoethyl monomethyl esters. The ethylation of the aspartyl carboxyl groups was shown to be a likely result of an extraction procedure utilising acidified ethanol, the methylation of the aromatic hydroxy of the methoxy group to be due to the derivatisation procedure. Studies with pentafluorobenzylation confirmed that the endogenous compound is o-hydroxybenzoylaspartate.