COMPREHENSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF AJMALINE AND YOHIMBINE IN RAUVOLFIA SERPENTINA (L.) BENTH.: UNRAVELING PHYTOCHEMICAL DIVERSITY THROUGH ADVANCED MOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY

Abstract

Rauvolfia serpentina (L.), commonly known as Indian snakeroot, is a very important medicinal plant of Ayurvedic medicine renowned for its antihypertensive and neuroactive properties. This scientific research presents a comprehensive phytochemical investigation targeting two bioactive indole alkaloids ajmaline   and yohimbine isolated from R. serpentina roots. Soxhlet extraction using dichloromethane yielded alkaloid-rich fractions, which were purified via column chromatography employing (chloroform: methanol) solvent systems of graded polarity. Active fractions (F-5 and F-6) were subjected to spectroscopic characterization using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR), and mass spectrometry (MS). Spectral data confirmed the structural identity of Ajmaline   (C₂₀H₂₆N₂O₂) and Yohimbine (C₂₁H₂₆N₂O₃), validating the efficacy of this integrated approach. These methods have demonstrated a marked improvement in the quality of the pharmacological relevance of R. serpentina and provide a spectral fingerprinting framework for educational and drug discovery applications.