Chiral Inversion of Active Compounds in Plant Extract

Chiral inversion is always mediated by enzymes and varies with solvent, pH and temperature. Considerable attention should be paid to the mechanism of the inversion reaction and its pharmacological and toxicological results. This chapter will discuss the mechanism of chiral inversion of plants in secondary metabolize and its importance in creating pharmacology consequences. Plant stereoisomers of alkaloids and flavonoids exhibit a wide range of pharmacological effects. Recent advances in chiral analysis for the herbal plants in clinical research & forensic toxicology by experiments in which one enantiomer was given to the experiment subjects in a specific situation. Demonstration of metabolic chiral inversion may have consequences for the development of a new pharmaceutical entity. Hence, it helps a better understanding of chiral compounds in plants, facilitating the application for drug development from medicinal herbs and thereby reducing bioanalytical and toxicology workload.