While some of the most commonly investigated — and most notorious — chemicals in the world are alkaloids, many modern medicines are also based on alkaloid structures. Chemists continue to explore new synthetic routes and alkaloid derivatives in search of drug candidates for fighting disease.

Drawn from the venerable Dictionary of Natural Products, the second edition of the Dictionary of Alkaloids categorizes all known alkaloids, presenting concise chemical, structural, and physical data. The addition of an authoritative foreword, written by Geoffrey Cordell, eminent alkaloid chemist and Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious series The Alkaloids, Chemistry and Biology, sets the scene for this fascinating subject.

Now More than Double the Size of the Previous Edition

The dictionary embraces a wide definition of alkaloid so that non-basic alkaloidal amides are also comprehensively covered. Grown in number from the prior edition, the number of alkaloids documented is now more than doubled to over 20,000. For this new edition, every existing entry has been inspected for accuracy and the great majority are updated. The extensive introduction has been completely rewritten and expanded to give a concise, authoritative, and fully referenced account of the different types of alkaloids. The editorial team has been enhanced by the addition of Professor László Szabó, a renowned expert on the indole alkaloids. The presentation and classification of this large and complex class of alkaloids has been completely revamped.

Reflects Groundbreaking New Developments in the Field

Some notable shifts in emphasis reflect the changes in the field since the first edition was published in 1989. The main areas of new information concern novel and improved synthetic methods, and the isolation of new alkaloids of unprecedented structure from a variety of organisms, some of them resulting from the participation of newly recognized enzyme types, such as the Diels-Adler enzymes. The text also reflects new understanding of the interrelatedness of ecosystems and the way in which alkaloids and other metabolites may be passed to and metabolized by predators.

An important feature of the dictionary is its classification scheme for Type of Compound. These codes are designed to complement substructure searching. Each heading merges all of the alkaloids thought by specialists to be bio-genetically related, even those that don’t share the same carbon skeleton.

Includes a Fully Searchable CD-ROM

Accompanying this dictionary is a fully searchable CD-ROM. The two media offer the luxury of choice between the sophisticated and user-friendly search possibilities presented in the electronic version or the ability to thumb through the highly browsable print version. Either way, readers will find access to data unparalleled both in scope and depth.