Chilocorine C:  A New “Dimeric” Alkaloid from a Coccinellid Beetle, Chilocorus cacti<SUP>1</SUP><BBR RID="np970541ab00001">

A new hexacyclic alkaloid, chilocorine C (<BO>4</BO>), has been isolated from Chilocorus cacti and characterized on the basis of its IR, UV, MS, and NMR data. Although its structure is closely related to that of exochomine (<BO>1</BO>) (isolated from Exochomus quadripustulatus) and to chilocorine A (<BO>2</BO>) and B (<BO>3</BO>) (obtained previously from C. cacti), the presence of a hydroxymethyl substituent on the saturated tricyclic moiety represents an unexpected structural variation on the dimeric alkaloid theme.