ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the chemical constituents of Picrasma quassioidies. Methods: The isolation and purification were carried out by column chromatography on silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 and semi-preparative RP-HPLC. The structures were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectroscopic analysis. Results: A total of 12 alkaloids and four quassinoids were isolated and identified from 80% ethanol aqueous extract of the stems of P. quassioides. They were named as 1-hydroxymethyl-4-methoxy-β-carboline (1), 1-methoxicabony-β-carboline (2), 1-methoxicabony-4-methoxy-β-carboline (3), 1-methoxicabony-4,8-dimethoxy-β-carboline (4), 1-ethyl-4-methoxy-β-carboline (5), 1-ethyl-4,8-dimethoxy-β-carboline (6), picrasidine I (7), canthin-6-one (8), 5-methoxyl-canthin-6-one (9), 4-methoxyl-5-hydroxyl-canthin-6-one (10), 4,5-dimethoxyl- canthin-6-one (11), quassidine B (12), quassin (13), nigakilactone B (14), nigakilactone E (15) and norquassin (16). Conclusion: Compound 1 is a new β-carboline alkaloid, named as kumujantine D, and compound 4 is isolated from P. quassioidies for the first time.