International Journal of Legal Medicine 1993-01-01

Suicidal yew leave ingestion--phloroglucindimethylether (3,5-dimethoxyphenol) as a marker for poisoning from Taxus baccata.

F Musshoff, B Jacob, C Fowinkel, T Daldrup

Index: Int. J. Legal Med. 106(1) , 45-50, (1993)

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Abstract

In a case of suicide in a depressive 19-year-old man with considerable ingestion of new leaves, resorption of yew ingredients could be demonstrated. The main substance could be identified as 3,5-dimethoxyphenol, the aglycone of taxicatine, which is a typical ingredient of yew leaves. 3,5-dimethoxyphenol was demonstrated in harvested yew leaves, stomach content and cardiac blood of the victim. Structure confirmation was achieved by means of HPLC, UV, GC-MS, IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. None of the Taxus alkoids could be identified. The components detected by TLC have not yet been identified. The results demonstrate that 3,5-dimethoxyphenol can be used as a marker in cases of intoxication by yew ingredients.