Lignans from stems and leaves of Cephalotaxus fortunei / 中草药

Objective: To study chemical constituents of Cephalotaxus fortunei. Methods: The chemical constituents were separated and purified by preparative thin-layer chromatography, silica gel, ODS, HP20 macroporous resin and Sephadex LH-20 gel column chromatography, and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were determined by NMR and ESI-MS spectroscopic techniques. Results: Seventeen lignans were isolated from the ethanol extracts of C. fortunei and their structures were identified as shonanin (1), arctigenin (2), α-conidendrin (3), matairesinol (4), nortrachelogenin (5), epinortrachelogenin (6), (7'S)- hydroxymatairesinol (7), (7'R)-hydroxymatairesanol (8), (7'S)-hydroxyarctigenin (9), secoisolariciresinol (10), 4,4'-di-O-methylcephafortin A (11), 5-(3″,4″-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-hydroxy-3-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxybenzyl)-4-hydroxymethyl-dihydrofuran-2-one (12), cephafortin B (13), dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (14), 7R,8S-4,7,9,9'-tetrahydroxy-3,3'-dimethoxy-8-O-4'-neolignan (15), 7R,8R-4,7,9,9'- tetrahydroxy-3,3'-dimethoxy-8-O-4'-neolignan (16), and threo-1,2-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-propanediol (17). Conclusion: Compounds 3, 6, 10 and 17 were isolated from genus Cephalotaxus for the first time, and compounds 4, 5, 7-9, 12 and 14 were isolated from C. fortunei for the first time.

Isolation and identification of two new compounds from the twigs and leaves of Cephalotaxus fortunei.

Two new compounds, namely 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-6-methylchromone (1), and sesquiterpene X (6), together with 21 known compounds were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Cephalotaxus fortunei Hook. f. The structures of 1-23 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis (1D/2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS and IR) and comparison with literature. The absolute configuration of compound 6 was determined by means of electronic circular dichroism calculation. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of all compounds were assayed in RAW 264.7 cells by assessing lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production. Compounds 1 and 6 exhibited weak effects with percentage inhibitions of 24% and 35.60%, respectively. In addition, compounds 4, 9, and 14 have the potential to be developed as therapeutic agents for inflammatory diseases because of their significant anti-inflammatory activities and high content in C. fortunei.