NYU Conference on Ibogaine Nov 5-6, 1999
Biographical note on Robert Goutarel
Robert Goutarel was born on March 15, 1909 at Dôle, in the Jura Department of France. He is a pharmacist, a doctor of medicine and a doctor of sciences, and was a student of professor V. Prelog, Nobel prizewinner in chemistry, at the Federal Polytechnic School in Zürich, Switzerland.
A specialist in the chemical study of plants containing alkaloids, a research director at the French Scientific Research Center (C.N.R.S.), R. Goutarel was the cofounder with Prof. M.M. Janot of the alkaloid section at the C.N.R.S. Institute of Chemistry of Natural Substances at Gif-sur-Yvette. He is the author of numerous publications, particularly on steroidal alkaloids: Les alcaloïdes stéroïdiques des Apocynacées, Hermann Publ., Paris, 1964; Steroidal alkaloids of the Apocynaceae and Buxaceae, The Alkaloids Specialist Periodical Reports, the Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, 1970 to 1976; and On indole alkaloids: yohimbines, indolo-quinuclidic alkaloids of the Rubiaceae;(über China Alkaloids, über die Konstitution von Cinchonamin und Chinamin, R. Goutarel, M.M. Janot, V. Prelog und W.I. Taylor, Helv. Chim. Acta, 33, p.150, 1949); Iboga and Voacanga alkaloids.
R. Goutarel isolated several of the alkaloids of T. iboga and T. subsessilis: ibogamine (8), ibolutein, iboxygaine, ibophylline, etc., as well as alkaloids of the genus Voacanga: voacangine, voacamine, voacorine, vobtusine.
The observation of 3-methyl-5-ethylpyridine by alkaline fusion of ibogaine (Structure de l'ibogaïne, R. Goutarel, M.M. Janot, F. Mathys and V. Prelog, C.R. Acad. Sc. 237:1718, 1953), led him to propose a partial formula comprising all of the structural elements and four ring structures of this alkaloid (1a). The definitive formula including a fifth closed chain formed by a C16-C17 bond was established in 1957 by W.I. Taylor (3).
Institute of Chemistry of Natural Substances
of the National Scientific Research Center (C.N.R.S.)
91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
© 1999The Ibogaine Dossier