3'-O-Methylbatatasin III

Separation and purification of 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes and bibenzyls from Pholidota chinensis by high-speed countercurrent chromatography.[Pubmed:25421716]

J Sep Sci. 2015 Feb;38(3):453-9.

Stilbenoids are the main components of leaves and stems of Pholidota chinensis. In the present investigation, high-speed counter-current chromatography was used for the separation and purification of two classes of stilbenoids, namely, bibenzyls and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes, on a preparative scale from whole plants of P. chinensis with different solvent systems after silica gel column chromatography fractionation. n-Hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1.2:1:1:0.8, v/v/v/v) was selected as the optimum solvent system to purify 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-1',2'-ethanediol (1), coelonin (2), 3,4'-dihydroxy-5,5'-dimethoxybibenzyl (3), and 2,7-dihydroxy-3,4,6-trimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (4). While 2,7-dihydroxy-3,4,6-trimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (5), batatasin III (6), orchinol (7), and 3'-O-methylbatatasin III (8) were purified by n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1.6:0.8:1.2:0.4, v/v/v/v). After the high-speed counter-current chromatography isolation procedure, the purity of all compounds was over 94% assayed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography. The chemical structure identification of all compounds was carried out by mass spectrometry and (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. To the best of our knowledge, the current investigation is the first study for the separation and purification of bibenzyls and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes by high-speed counter-current chromatography from natural resources.

Phytotoxic activity of bibenzyl derivatives from the orchid Epidendrum rigidum.[Pubmed:16076106]

J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Aug 10;53(16):6276-80.

A whole plant chloroform-methanol extract of the orchid Epidendrum rigidum inhibited radicle growth of Amaranthus hypochondriacus seedlings (IC50 = 300 microg/mL). Bioassay-guided fractionation furnished four phytotoxins, namely, gigantol (1), batatasin III (2), 2,3-dimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenathrene-4,7-diol (9), and 3,4,9-trimethoxyphenanthrene-2,5-diol (11), along with the known flavonoids apigenin, vitexin, and isovetin and the triterterpenoids 24,24-dimethyl-9,19-cyclolanostane-25-en-3beta-ol (14) and 24-methyl-9,19-cyclolanostane-25-en-3beta-ol (15). Stilbenoids 1, 2, 9, and 11 inhibited radicle growth of A. hypochondriacus with IC50 values of 0.65, 0.1, 0.12, and 5.9 microM, respectively. Foliar application of gigantol (1) at 1 microM to 4 week old seedlings of A. hypochondriacus reduced shoot elongation by 69% and fresh weight accumulation by 54%. Bibenzyls 1 and 2, as well as synthetic analogues 4'-hydroxy-3,3',5-trimethoxybibenzyl (3), 3,3',4',5-tetramethoxybibenzyl (4), 3,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxybibenzyl (5), 3'-O-methylbatatasin III (6), 3,3',5-trihydroxybibenzyl (7), and 3,4',5-trihydroxybibenzyl (8), were tested for phytotoxicity in axenic cultures of the small aquatic plant Lemna pausicostata. All bibenzyls derivatives except 7 and 8 inhibited growth and increased cellular leakage with IC50 values of 89.9-180 and 89.9-166 microM, respectively. The natural and synthetic bibenzyls showed marginal cytotoxicity on animal cells. The results suggest that orchid bibenzyls may be good lead compounds for the development of novel herbicidal agents.