Phytochemistry of Australian Rutaceae Boronias and Crowea's, interesting Australian natives, some now very common ornamentals, have a diverse range phytochemistry which offers a unique olfactory experience and they may have pharmacological activity, for example asaricin has AChE inhibitory properties and prenyloxyphenylpropanoids from Boronia pinnata have been researched. Often terpenoids such as limonene are noted, which is not suprising considering Citrus sp. are in the family. Boronias can contain a diverse range of phenylpropanoid derivatives including eugenol, methyl eugenol, isoeugenol, safrole, croweacin and elemicin. Main constituents noted in Boronias by Ghisalberti (1998) [1] include: ⦁ Mono- sesqui- and diterpenes ⦁ Triterpenes and derivatives ⦁ Phenylpropanoid derivatives Some essential oil profiles in various Boronias as noted by Ghisalberti (1998) were: Croweas seem to have 5 chemotypes with varying quantities of safrole, methyl isoeugenol, 1 elemicin, asaricin, croweacin and exalaticin [2] Crowea exalata contained an unusually high propotion of propenyl isomers of all the variously substituted propenylbenzenes (safrole, elemicin, croweacin, exalaticin). C. exalata X C. saligna , also contained croweacin (82%) as its main component; its oil was very similar to C. saligna. C. saligna contained croweacin (84-94%) as its main component C. angustifolia var. angustifolia produced an essential oil in which the major components were gamma-asarone (68%), exalatacin (13%) and croweacin (7%) Boronia crenulata 'Pink Passion' is contains limonene and most notably, propenylbenzenes such as safrole. Boronia safrolifera was noted to contain d-α-pinene, methyl eugenol, safrole 2 The purpose of this citizen science was to explore via TLC Boronia crenulata 'Super Dooper' and Boronia 'Seaside Stars' via preliminary TLC. No attempts were made to identify the constituents. Later, Crowea exalata 'Ryan's Star' and Crowea exalata 'Superstar' were subjected to TLC. Plant material (fresh) was macerated in isopropanol and concentrated to a small sample. TLC (silica, 0.2mm, glass backed, I 2 visualisation) with two solvent systems (acetone and white spirits) gave the following. 3 Acetone elution Rf's obtained were 0.14, 0.39, 0.8 for the 'Seaside Stars' 0.14, 0.64, 0.8 for 'Super Dooper' 4 White spirits elution Rf's obtained were 0.24, 0.33, 0.52 and 0.91 for 'Seaside stars' 0.42, 0.61 and 0.91 for 'Super Dooper' In order to capture a cleaner picture of the lipophilic fraction, samples were again collected with white spirits as the extraction solvent. A mixed solvent of white spirits:acetone:1:1 was found to give the best resolution of the lipophilic constituents of the solvents tried for TLC. Added to the other two samples, Crowea exalata 'Ryan's Star' was also subjected to TLC. 5 TLC (silica, 0.2mm, glass backed, acetone:white spirits:1:1, I 2 visualisation) of the lipophilic extract Rf's obtained were 0.66 for Boronia 'Seaside Stars', 0.74 and 0.61 for Boronia 'Super Dooper' and 0.61 for Crowea 'Ryan's Star' TLC of Crowea exalata 'Superstar' lipophilic extract: Rf obtained was 0.62. TLC (silica, 0.2mm, glass backed, acetone:white spirits:1:1, I 2 visualisation) of the lipophilic 6 extract References: Ghisalberti, E. L. (1998). Phytochemistry of the Australian Rutaceae: Boronia, Eriostemon and Phebalium species. Phytochemistry, 47(2), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(97)00571-2 Brophy, Goldsack et al. (1997) Essential Oils of the Genus Crowea (Rutaceae) Journal of Essential Oil Research 9(4):401-409 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10412905.1997.9700740 7