Deuterated tryptophan was prepared by simple exchange reactions in DC1 orD2O solution. The yield and abundance of deuterated tryptophan obtained from usingDC1 as the deuterium solute was 92% and 98.5% respectively
whereas that by usingD2O was 95% and 96.2% respectively. Deuterated perlolyrine was synthesizedstarting from deuterated tryptophan via acid-catalyzed ring-closure
aromatisationand hydrolysis
with a yield of 11.6% and abundance of about 95%. The labelledperlolyrine was suitable for studying drug metabolism.