Studies on chemical constituents of Illicium simonsii

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents of the Illicium simonsii. METHOD: The stems and leaves of I. simonsii were extracted with 95% EtOH. The EtOH extract was dispersed in H2O and extracted with petroleum, CHCl3 and BuOH, successively. The CHCl3 and BuOH fractions were isolated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, Rp-C8 and Rp-C18. The isolated compounds were identified on the basis of spectral analyses (including MS, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR). RESULT: Fourteen compounds were isolated from the stems and leaves of I. simonsii, which were characterized as ficusesquilignan A (1), buddlenol C (2), buddlenol D (3), leptolepisol A (4), acernikol (5), aviculin (6), kaempferol (7), quercetin (8), quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 --> 6) -beta-D-glucopyranoside (9), taxifolin-3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside (10), benzyl-2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2,6-dihydroxybenzoate (11), 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-methylbenzoate (12), biondinin C (13), shikimic acid (14). CONCLUSION: Except compounds 9 and 14, all the other compounds were obtained from I. simonsii for the first time.