Two new polyhydric alcohols from fruits of Forsythia suspensa / 中草药

Objective To study the chemical constituents from the fruits of Forsythia suspensa. Methods Compounds were isolated by a combination of various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over macroporous resin, Sephadex LH-20 and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by physiochemical properties and spectral analysis. Results Two new compounds from the 50% ethanol extract of F. suspensa were isolated and identified as (2R,3S)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) - 3-methoxypropane-1,2-diol (1) and 2-methylhexane-1,2,3,6-tetraol (2). Conclusion Compound 1 is a new epimer of a known phenylpropanoid named (2R,3S)-forsythiayanoside D, and compound 2 is a new compound named rengyquaol.