ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the barks of Cinnamomum cassia. Methods: Silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semi-preparative HPLC were used to isolate the compounds. The structures of the compounds were identified on the basis of their physicochemical properties, spectroscopic data, and with the literature. Results: Fifteen compounds were isolated from the barks of C. cassia growing in China, including cinnzeylanine (1), anhydrocinnzeylanine (2), anhydrocinnzeylanol (3), cinnzeylanol (4), (-)-lariciresinol (5), evofolin B (6), 5'-medioresinol (7), (+)-syringaresinol (8), 2-hydroxyl cinnamie acid (9), 1, 10-seco-4ζ-hydroxy-muurol-ene-1, 10-diketone (10), (-)-epicatechin (11), kaempferol (12), proanthocyanidin A2 (13), stigmasterol (14), and stearic acid (15). Conclusion: Compounds 5-7 and 10 are lignans isolated from the plant for the first time, and compounds 1-4 are ryanodanediterpenes isolated from the barks of C. cassia growing in China for the first time.