Iridoid glucosides in Griselinia, Aralidium and Toricellia

From three of five investigated species of Griselinia a new iridoid glucoside, griselinoside, was isolated. It was found to be present also in foliage of Aralidium pinnatifidum and Toricellia angulata, accompanied in the former by aralidioside another novel iridoid glucoside. The structures and absolute configurations of the two iridoids were elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and chemical conversions. From G. littoralis and T. angulata the glucosides magnolioside and syringoside respectively were isolated. ¹³C NMR spectra are given for thirteen iridoid derivatives.     

5,7-Bisdeoxycynanchoside,an iridoid glucoside from Macfadyena cynanchoides

A new iridoid glucoside from Macfadyena cynanchoides leaves has been identified by spectral (¹H and ¹³C NMR) and chemical procedures as 5,7     

6β-Hydroxyipolamiide,an iridoid glucoside from Stachytarpheta mutabilis

A new iridoid glucoside has been isolated from Stachytarpheta mutabilis and assigned the structure and configuration of 6β-hydroxyipolamiide on the basis of ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR evidence. The conversion of this compound into penta- acetyllamiol proved the above assignment.     

Acalyphin,a cyanogenic glucoside from Acalypha indica

A new cyanogenic glucoside, acalyphin, was isolated from the aerial parts of Acalypha indica and its structure identified mainly by ¹H NMR and     

Two further acylated flavone glucosides from Anisomeles ovata

The structures of two new acylated apigenin glucosides are reported from the aerial parts of Anisomeles ovata. They were separated as their acetates and identified as apigenin 7-O-β-d-(2″,6″-di-O-p-coumaroyl)glucoside and apigenin 7-O-β-d-(4″,6′-di-O-p-coumaroyl)glucoside by ¹H NMR study of the acetates and by chemical degradative methods. The allocation of the p-coumaroyl moieties is also supported by a study of the ¹³C NMR spectrum of the inseparable mixture of glucosides.     

Cynanchoside,a highly oxygenated iridoid glucoside from Macfadyena cynanchoides

The elucidation of the structure and stereochemistry of cynanchoside, a new highly oxygenated iridoid glucoside isolated from Macfadyena cynanchoides (Bignoniaceae), has been accomplished using mainly ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectral data and further confirmed by simple chemical transformations.     

Structure of renifolin and reconfirmation of the structure of pirolatin

The ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectral analysis of the glucoside renifolin, isolated from Pyrola renifolia, demonstrated the so far unknown binding site of the glucose moiety to be at C-8 and hence its structure as 8-β-D-glucosyloxy-2,7-dimethyl-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-5-ol. The earlier reported structure for the glucoside pirolatin, isolated from Pyrola japonica, was also reconfirmed by the ¹³C NMR spectral analysis.     

New indanone compounds from Onychium japonicum

A new indanone glucoside pteroside M has been isolated from fronds of Onychium japonicumPteridaceae. The structure of its aglycone pterosin M has been established by ¹³C NMR, PMR spectra and degradation with nitric acid.     

Structure of a cyanoglucoside of Lithospermum purpureo-caeruleum

A new glucoside has been isolated from roots of Lithospermum officinale and L. caeruleum. It is not cyanogenetic although containing nitrile group in the aglycone moiety. Its structure has been elucidated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy as 6-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-1-cyanomethylene-4, 5-dihydroxy-2-cyclohexene.     

2-β-d-Glucopyranosyloxy-2-methylpropanol in Acacia sieberana var. woodii

A new diol glucoside, 2-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-2-methylpropanol, the first reported naturally occurring monoglucoside of an aliphatic dihydric alcohol, was isolated from pods of Acacia sieberana var. woodii. Structure elucidation was based on ¹ H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and enzymatic analyses. The compound was hydrolysed very slowly by almond β-glucosidase, but cleaved by a β-glucuronidase enzyme complex from Helix pomatia.     

Structure and configuration of unedide,an iridoid glucoside from Arbutus unedo

Unedide, a novel iridoid glucoside isolated from Arbutus unedo (Ericaceae), has been established to be 6,7-dihydro-6β-hydroxymonotropein by detailed analysis of ¹H and ¹³ C NMR spectral data.     

Taraxacoside,a type of acylated γ-butyrolactone glycoside from taraxacum officinale

In addition to the four new sesquiterpene lactones previously identified, a new acylated γ-butyrolactone glucoside, taraxacoside, was isolated from the roots of Taraxacum officinale. Its structure was elucidated mainly by ¹H and ¹³C NMR studies as β-O-[4-O-(p-hydroxyphenylacetyl]β-D-glucopyranosyl]-β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone. This seems to be the first instance of the detection of a monocyclic five-membered, saturated lactone O-glycoside. Additionally, p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid was identified for the first time as an acylating acid in a sugar ester.     

Biosynthesis of the iridoid glucoside cornin in Verbena officinalis

The biosynthesis of cornin (verbenalin) and dihydrocornin in Verbena officinalis has been investigated. The incorporation of [²H] deoxyloganin was found to be largely independent of the incubation time between one day and a week. An improved method for the preparation of deoxygeniposide from gardenoside is reported and [²H]-iridodial glucoside and [²H]-iridotrial glucoside were prepared from the former. Feeding experiments with young plants using these glucosides, as well as the aglucones, showed much better incorporations for the latter compounds as measured by ²H NMR spectroscopy. ¹³ C-labelled 10-hydroxygeraniol, 10-hydroxycitronellol, iridodial, iridotrial, iridodial glucoside, iridotrial glucoside, deoxyloganic acid, and deoxyloganic acid aglucone were prepared. [¹³C]-Mevalonic acid and the above compounds were fed to plants of medium age, and all gave incorporations measurable by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy into dihydrocornin. The postulated existence of two different metabolic pathways in the biosynthesis of cornin in young and old plants, respectively, could not be established as complete scrambling between the C-3 and C-11 in the iridoid skeleton apparently takes place with all the early precursors. The complete pathway from iridodial forwards to hastatoside has been elucidated.     

12-disinapolylglucose accumulated in cotyledons of dark-grown raphanus sativus seedlings

A new sinapic acid ester has been isolated and characterized as 1(E),2(E)-di-O-sinapoyl-β-d-glucopyranoside from cotyledons of dark-grown red radish (Raphanus sativus) seedlings. Its structure was elucidated by negative ion fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra and enzymatic determination of the glucose moiety. A possible biosynthetic mechanism for the formation of this new ester is discussed in which the energy-rich acyl glucoside 1-O-sinapoyl-β-d-glucose acts as the acyl donor in a sinapoyl transfer to the hydroxyl group at C-2 of the glucose moiety of another molecule of 1-O-sinapoyl-β-d-glucose (‘disproportionation’).     

Cyanogenic glycosides and menisdaurin from Guazuma ulmifolia, Ostrya virgininana, Tiquilia plicata and Tiquilia canescens

The major cyanogenic glycoside of Guazuma ulmifolia (Sterculiaceae) is (2R)-taxiphyllin (>90%), which co-occurs with (2S)-dhurrin. Few individuals of this species, but occasional other members of the family, have been reported to be cyanogenic. To date, cyanogenic compounds have not been characterized from the Sterculiaceae. The cyanogenic glycosides of Ostrya virginiana (Betulaceae) are (2S)-dhurrin and (2R)-taxiphyllin in an approximate 2:1 ratio. This marks the first report of the identification of cyanogenic compounds from the Betulaceae. Based on NMR spectroscopic and TLC data, the major cyanogenic glucoside of Tiquilia plicata is dhurrin, whereas the major cyanide-releasing compound of Tiquilia canescens is the nitrile glucoside, menisdaurin. NMR and TLC data indicate that both compounds are present in each of these species. The spectrum was examined by CI-MS, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, COSY, 1D selective TOCSY, NOESY, and ¹J/^2,3J HETCOR experiments; all carbons and protons are assigned. The probable absolute configuration of (2R)-dhurrin is established by an X-ray crystal structure. The ¹H NMR spectrum of menisdaurin is more complex than might be anticipated, containing a planar conjugated system in which most elements are coupled to several other atoms in the molecule. The coupling of one vinyl proton to the protons on the opposite side of the ring involves a ⁶J- and a ^5/7J-coupling pathway. A biogenetic pathway for the origin of nitrile glucosides is proposed.     

Biological variation of Vanilla planifolia leaf metabolome

The metabolomic analysis of Vanilla planifolia leaves collected at different developmental stages was carried out using ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis in order to evaluate their variation. Ontogenic changes of the metabolome were considered since leaves of different ages were collected at two different times of the day and in two different seasons. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square modeling discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) of ¹H NMR data provided a clear separation according to leaf age, time of the day and season of collection. Young leaves were found to have higher levels of glucose, bis[4-(β-d-glucopyranosyloxy)-benzyl]-2-isopropyltartrate (glucoside A) and bis[4-(β-d-glucopyranosyloxy)-benzyl]-2-(2-butyl)-tartrate (glucoside B), whereas older leaves had more sucrose, acetic acid, homocitric acid and malic acid. Results obtained from PLS-DA analysis showed that leaves collected in March 2008 had higher levels of glucosides A and B as compared to those collected in August 2007. However, the relative standard deviation (RSD) exhibited by the individual values of glucosides A and B showed that those compounds vary more according to their developmental stage (50%) than to the time of day or the season in which they were collected (19%). Although morphological variations of the V. planifolia accessions were observed, no clear separation of the accessions was determined from the analysis of the NMR spectra. The results obtained in this study, show that this method based on the use of ¹H NMR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis has a great potential for further applications in the study of vanilla leaf metabolome.     

Microtropiosides A–F: ent-Labdane diterpenoid glucosides from the leaves of Microtropis japonica (Celastraceae)

From a 1-BuOH-soluble fraction of a MeOH extract of the leaves of Microtropis japonica, collected in the Okinawa islands, six ent-labdane glucosides, named microtropiosides A–F, were isolated together with one known acyclic sesquiterpene glucoside. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analyses, and their absolute configurations determined by application of the β-d-glucopyranosylation-induced shift-trend rule in ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and the modified Mosher’s method.     

Biotransformation of progesterone by suspension cultures of Digitalis purpurea cultured cells

It has been shown that the cultured cells of Digitalis purpruea are capable of transforming progesterone (I) to 5α-pregnane-3,20-dione (II), 5α-pregnan-3β-ol-20-one (III), its glucoside (IV), 5α-pregnane-3β,20α-diol (V), its glucoside (VI), 5α-pregnane-3β,20β-diol (VII), its glucoside (VIII), Δ⁴-pregnen-20α-ol-3-one (IX), its glucoside (X), Δ-pregnen-20β-ol-3-one (XI) and its glucoside (XII). 5α-Pregnan-3β-ol-20-one glucoside (IV), 5α-pregnane-3β,20α-diol glucoside (VI), 5α-pregnane-3β,20β-diol glucoside (VIII), Δ⁴-pregnen-20α-ol-3-one glucoside (X) and Δ⁴-pregnen-20β-ol-3-one glucoside (XII) have been found for the first time as new metabolises by plant tissue cultures. A scheme for the biotransformation of progesterone (I) has been proposed, and the reduction and glucosidation activities distinctly have been observed in these cultured cells.     

Phenolic acid glycosides from Parmentiera cereifera Seem. (Candle tree)

Two new phenolic acid glycosides, parmentins A (1) and B (2) were isolated from the methanolic extract of the leaves and stems of candle tree (Parmentiera cereifera Seem). These compounds were accompanied by a mixture of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol (3), β-sitosterol glucoside (4), isovanillic acid (5), vanillic acid (6), and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (7). The structures of the isolated compounds were determined on the basis of physical and spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR (¹H, ¹³C, COSY, HSQC and HMBC) and mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS).     

A new neolignan glucoside from hairy roots of Cichorium intybus

A new neolignan glucoside was isolated from hairy roots of Cichorium intybus. Its structure was determined as (7S, 8R)-3′-demethyl-dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside based on a combination of 1D and 2D NMR techniques and CD data. In addition, further water soluble constituents, including four known phenolic compounds and one known sesquiterpene lactone glucoside, were isolated from the same source.