ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the twigs and leaves of Illicius majus. Methods: The compounds were isolated by column chromatography over silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and flash chromatography coupled with preparative HPLC. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis including ESI-MS, 1D-NMR, and 2D-NMR. The cytotoxic activities were assessed by MTT assay. Results: Compounds 1—14 were isolated from the twigs and leaves of I. majus, and identified as 3′-methoxy-kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (1), quercetin-3-O-arabinoside (2), kaempferol-3-O-arabinoside (3), 8′-oxo-6-hydroxy-dihydrophaseic acid (4), 4-O-methylcedrusin (5), (−)-massoniresinol (6), (7S,8R)-3,3′,5-trimethoxy-4′,7-epoxy- 8,5′-neolignan-4,9,9′-triol (7), vladinol F (8), 2,3-dihydro-2-(4′-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-3′-methoxyphenyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-7- methoxy-5-benzofuranpropanol (9), quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (10), kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (11), vitexin (12), 3,5,7-trihydroxychromone-3-O-glucopyranoside (13), and benzyl alcohol O-β-D-glucopyranoside (14). Compounds 1—14 exhibited the cytotoxic activity against HCT-8, Bel-7402, BGC-823, and A549 with IC50 values of over 10 μmol/L, respectively. Conclusion: Compounds 1—14 are all obtained from I. majus for the first time, and compounds 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 14 are obtained from the genus of Illicium for the first time. All compounds show no significant cytotoxic activities against HCT-8, Bel-7402, BGC-823, and A549 cancer cell.