A new quinone compound from Eleutherine americana / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the chemical constituents from the ethnic medicines of Eleutherine americana. Methods Compounds were separated by silica gel and semi-preparative HPLC, detected by TLC, and identified by their NMR and MS data. Results Five compounds were isolated from E. americana. They were ameriquinone A (1), elecanacin (2), 3-[2-(acetyloxy) propyl]-2-hydroxy- 8-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (3), 2-acetyl-1,8-di-methoxy-3-methylnaphthalene (4), and dihydroeleutherinol (5). Conclusion Compound 1 is a new compound. Compounds 1-5 have different degrees of inhibitory effect on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The MIC values of compound 5 against two strains were 0.30 μg/mL and 0.06 μg/mL, respectively.