Two new butanolides from the roots of Litsea acuminata

• Published in: Phytochemistry letters Vol. 11; pp. 32 - 36
• Main Authors: Tanaka, Hitoshi, Takaya, Yoshiaki, Toyoda, Junya, Yasuda, Tadashi, Sato, Masaru, Murata, Jin, Murata, Hiroko, Kaburagi, Koichi, Iida, Osamu, Sugimura, Koji, Sakai, Eiji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2015
• Subjects: Butanolides; Cytotoxicity; Lauraceae; Licunolide A; Licunolide B; Litsea acuminata; Butanolides; Licunolide A; Cytotoxicity; Lauraceae; Litsea acuminata; Licunolide B
• ISSN: 1874-3900; 1876-7486
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phytol.2014.11.001

•Two new butanolides (1 and 2) were isolated from the roots of Litsea acuminata (Lauraceae).•This is the first report of 4-hydroxy-5-methylbutanolides with a C10-side chain from a natural source.•The structures were determined by spectroscopic studies (IR, MS, 1D and 2D NMR) and chemical evidence.•Compounds 1–8 were evaluated for the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines.
Two new butanolides, licunolides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the roots of Litsea acuminata, together with three known compounds: isolancifolide (3), longifolin (4), and sesquirose furan (5). The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were determined by spectroscopic studies (IR, MS, 1D and 2D NMR) and chemical evidence. This is the first report of 4-hydroxy-5-methylbutanolides with a C10-side chain from a natural source. Longifolin (4) and sesquirose furan (5) showed a significant cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines in vitro.