Isolation and structure elucidation of punicalagin, a toxic hydrolysable tannin, from Terminalia oblongata

This paper describes the isolation and structure elucidation of two toxic tannins, named, α- and β-punicalagin, from Terminalia oblongata, an Australian tree. Techniques used in the structure determination included Fast Atom Bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry, and one- and two-dimensional NMR, UV, and IR spectroscopy. A number of microscale derivatisations were performed, followed by FAB analysis.