J Nat Prod. 2009 Jun 24; Lin BD, Zhang CR, Yang SP, Zhang S, Wu Y, Yue JMSixteen new D-ring-opened phragmalin limonoid orthoesters, swietenitins A-M (1-6, 8, 10, 12-16), 2-acetoxyswietenialide D (7), 2,11-diacetoxyswietenialide D (9), and 11-deoxyswietenialide D (11), and four known compounds were isolated from the twigs of Swietenia macrophylla. The structures of 1-16 were established on the basis of spectroscopic methods, and 1 and 2 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The (1)H NMR-based conformational analysis on the epimeric compounds 1 and 2 provided a general approach to determine the absolute configuration of the 2,3-epoxy-2-methylbutyryloxy unit at C-3 borne by a large group of the known phragmalin-type limonoid orthoesters.

Phytomedicine. 2009 Jun 22; Kong WJ, Zhao YL, Xiao XH, Jin C, Li ZLTo control the quality of Rhizoma Coptidis, a method based on ultra performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector (UPLC-PAD) was developed for quantitative analysis of five active alkaloids and chemical fingerprint analysis. In quantitative analysis, the five alkaloids showed good regression (R > 0.999 2) within test ranges and the recovery of the method was in the range of 98.4- 100.8%. The limit of detections and quantifications for five alkaloids in PAD were less than 0.07 and 0.22mug/ml, respectively. In order to compare the UPLC fingerprints between Rhizoma Coptidis from different origins, the chemometrics procedures, including similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to classify the Rhizoma Coptidis samples according to their cultivated origins. Consistent results were obtained to show that Rhizoma Coptidis samples could be successfully grouped in accordance with the province of origin. Furthermore, five marker constituents were screened out to be the main chemical marker, which could be applied to accurate discrimination and quality control for Rhizoma Coptidis by quantitative analysis. This study revealed that UPLC-PAD method was simple, sensitive and reliable for quantitative and chemical fingerprint analysis, moreover, for the quality evaluation and control of Rhizoma Coptidis.

Chem Biodivers. 2009 Jun 23; 6(6): 858-863Yu ZG, Li J, Li ZY, Guo YWTwo new acetonyl-bearing sesquiterpenes, dysifragilisins A and B (1 and 2, resp.), have been isolated from the Hainan marine sponge Dysidea fragilis. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses and by comparison of their NMR data with those of structurally related compounds. A plausible biogenetic pathway is proposed for the origin of compounds 1 and 2.