Neolignan and phenylpropanoid compounds from the fruits of Illicium simonsii Maxim

Abstract

One new sesqui-neolignan compound, namely, sesqui-illisimonan A (1), one new neolignan, illisimonan A (2), and one new phenylpropanoid compound, illisimoid A (3) were isolated from the fruits of Illicium simonsii Maxim. The structures and absolute configurations of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic, including NMR, circular dichroism and calculated electronic circular dichroism methods. The antioxidant activities of compounds 1–3 were also evaluated. Vitamin E was selected as the positive control (IC₅₀ = 49.73 ± 0.88 μM). Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited in vitro antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀ value of 55.76 ± 1.30 and 59.36 ± 0.50 μM, respectively. However, the compound 3 didn’t show obvious antioxidant activity.

Keywords:

• Illicium simonsi Maxim
• sesqui-neolignan
• phenylpropanoid
• sesqui-illisimonan A

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Department of Instrumental Analysis, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College for measuring the UV, NMR, MS and CD spectra.