Talk:Α-Naphthoflavone

Synthetic, not natural
This article inaccurately referred to alpha-naphthoflavone as natural. However, two of the references in the article specifically referred to it as synthetic. And the two articles that were used as references to claim that it is found is Passiflora do not even mention alpha-naphthoflavone. I don't know if this was some kind of intentional deception, or just a mistake, but in any case it is now corrected. ChemNerd (talk) 12:01, 13 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Once again, I have removed false claims that this is a natural chemical compound. For those interested, please read this retraction of a scientific paper which states that alpha-naphthoflavone "remains unknown as a plant natural product".  It can't get more clear than that.  ChemNerd (talk) 20:10, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Certainly it is a synthetic flavone however there is belief that it is also a natural product. The source of contention is this paper http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/109662002753723214 which talks specifically about the benzoflavone part in the plant. Most of the other papers focus exclusively on the tri-substituted benzoflavone, but this one is speaking specifically about benzoflavone. Unless the author is using the terms interchangeably (which would be strange) the papers indicate that benzoflavone and benzoflavone derivatives are found in passiflora. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ebuddha5 (talk • contribs) 06:31, 23 December 2011 (UTC)


 * There are many chemical compounds that are referred to generally as benzoflavones, some of which are natural. In the paper you refer to, the authors are studying a benzoflavone that is different (different chemical structure) than the one described in this article, alpha-naphthoflavone. ChemNerd (talk) 11:33, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't entirely agree with that statement unless you have the full paper. Dhawan teaches us that alpha-napthaflavone occurs in passiflora in his 2003 paper stating "the BZF moiety isolated from P. incarnata is a tri-substituted derivative of alpha-naphthoflavone (7,8-benzoflavone), a well-known aromatase-enzyme inhibitor" it is quite logical to believe that alpha-naphthoflavone also occurs in the plant without the extra hydroxyls. In his journal of medicinal foods 2003 article it is pretty clear to me the BZF he is talking about is alpha-naphthoflavone because he says "BZF was more potent than chrysin as an antiaromatase agent and exhibited better effects on the sexual system of the 2-year-old male rats." and we know from this paper "Inhibition of human estrogen synthetase (aromatase) by flavones" that the 5,6-nenzoflavone has no such activity, it is almost certain he is not talking about another benzoflavone isomer. In addition his paper "Prevention of chronic alcohol and nicotine-induced azospermia, sterility and decreased libido, by a novel tri-substituted benzoflavone moiety from Passiflora incarnata Linneaus in healthy male rats." that he is specifically talking about the alpha-napthaflavone backbone. Why don't we split the difference and use "a synthetic flavone and that is theorized to be naturally occurring" and add both references. I think that would be the most accurate at this time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ebuddha5 (talk • contribs) 14:01, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

What it appears to me is that Dhawan confirms that 7,8 benzoflavone is in passiflora yet has found another tri-hydroxylated variant (why moiety?) which he wishes to patent. He is being purposefully vague but not doing a very good job at it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ebuddha5 (talk • contribs) 14:09, 23 December 2011 (UTC)


 * In the text of the Dhawan article, it is clear that the benzoflavone he is referring to is a chemical derivative of the compound described in this article. The two are chemically distinct.  Dhawan does not teach us that alpha-naphthaflavone occurs in Passiflora, only that something similar does.  You say "it is quite logical to believe that alpha-naphthoflavone also occurs in the plant without the extra hydroxyls", but that is pure speculation.  Biosynthetically, there are very reasonable pathways to produce compounds similar to alpha-naphthoflavone without having alpha-naphthoflavone itself as an intermediate.  Per Wikipedia's no original reasearch policy we should not include our speculation (even when it is a reasonable, logical possibility).  I'd like to see some support in the literature for the statement that alpha-naphthoflavone is "theorized to be naturally occurring" if it is to remain in the article.  ChemNerd (talk) 01:12, 24 December 2011 (UTC)