Chemical constituents with antibacterial activity from Euphorbia sororia

Abstract

A group of ceramide (1) was isolated from the aerial parts of Euphorbia sororia. On the basis of spectroscopic data, chemical methods and GC–MS analysis, the structure of 1 was characterised as (2S,3S,4R,8E)-2-(eicosanoyl∼octacosanoyl amino)-1,3,4-octadecanetriol-8-ene. In addition, four known ellagic acid derivatives 3,3′-di-O-methylellagic acid (2), 3,3′,4′-tri-O-methylellagic acid (3), 4-O-sulfooxy-3,3′-di-O-methylellagic acid (4) and 4-O-sulfooxy- 3,3′,4′-tri-O-methylellagic acid (5) were isolated from the plant. Biological screening of all compounds revealed moderate antibacterial activity.

Keywords:

• Euphorbia sororia
• Ceramide
• Antibacterial activity

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Yan-Fu Zhang (Institute of Materia Medica, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, P.R. China) for identifying plant material. They are also grateful to Dr Qian Li and Dr Yi Dai (Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Natural Products, Jinan University, Guangzhou, P.R. China) for providing NMR and ESI-MS data.