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Abstract: The Bafoussam area in western Cameroon is part of the Central African Orogenic Belt. It is dominated by granitoids which belong to the Pan-African syn- to post-collisional post-650Ma group. Syenogranites are predominant, but alkali-feldspar granite, monzogranite, quartz-monzonite and quartz-monzodiorite occur as well. Four granitoid suites, biotite granitoids and deformed biotite granitoids with amphibole, megafeldspar granitoids with megacrysts and two-mica granitoids with primary muscovite and igneous garnet are distinguished. The granites can be assigned to high-K calc-alkalic to shoshonitic series. The partly shoshonitic biotite granitoids are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous and can be labelled as a highly fractionated I-type suite. The megafeldspar granitoids are weakly peraluminous with I-type character whereas the two-mica granitoids are weakly to strongly peraluminous and belong to an S-type suite. Emplacement ages at 558–564Ma for the two-mica granitoids have been dated from monazite by the EMP Th–U–Pb method. The REE in the biotite granitoids are moderately fractionated with (La/Lu)N =23–38. Enrichment of Nb and Ta varies by one order of magnitude. The megafeldspar granitoids show homogeneous and strongly fractionated REE patterns with (La/Lu)N =27–42. The primitive mantle-normalized element patterns are homogeneous with marked negative Ba, Nb, Ta, Sr, Eu and Ti anomalies. The two-mica granitoids are characterized by low to moderate total REE contents with strongly fractionated REE expressed by (La/Lu)N ranging from 7 to 59. The negative Nb and Ta anomalies are less significant. Nd and Sr whole-rock isotope data confirm different sources for the granitoid suites. The source of the I-type biotite granitoids was probably a juvenile mantle which has been variably metasomatized. The source of the I-type megafeldspar granitoids is characterized by juvenile mantle and lower crust components. Anatectic melts of the upper continental crust with variable contribution of lower continental crust or mantle melts can explain the heterogeneous isotopic signatures of the S-type two-mica granitoids. It is suggested that the melting of these sources was successively initiated by the rising isotherms during a syn- to post-collisional setting which followed a subduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

From the extracts of all parts of the plant Helichrysum cameroonense, five compounds were isolated and identified. One of them, a ceramide, named cameroonemide A (1), is reported for the first time as a new natural product. Its structure was determined by comprehensive analyses of their 1D and 2D NMR and HR-EI-MS spectral data. The remaining four known compounds were identified by comparing their spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature as kaurenoic acid (2), 3-acetyloxykaurenoic acid (3), beta-sitosterol (4), and beta-sitosterol glucopyranoside (5). Preliminary studies showed that 3-acetyloxykaurenoic acid (3) inhibited the alga Chlorella fusca, while kaurenoic acid (2) showed strong antibacterial activity against Bacillus megaterium.

Three new prenylated anthranoids, harunmadagascarins C (1) and D (2) and kenganthranol D (3), together with three known compounds (4-6) were isolated from the leaves of Harungana madagascariensis. Their structures were assigned by spectroscopic methods and by comparison with literature data. In the three new natural products 1-3, one or two prenyl groups are incorporated in furan, pyran, or cyclohexane rings in four different modes of annulation. Compounds 2, 4, and 6 were strongly active against the Gram-positive Bacillus megaterium.