Planta Med. 2003 Apr; 69(4): 356-60.

Eremophilenolides and other constituents from the roots of Ligularia sagitta.

Li XQ, Gao K, Jia ZJ.

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, People's Republic of China.

Chemical investigation of the roots of Ligularia sagitta has resulted in the characterization of six eremophilenolides 6beta,8beta-dimethoxy-10beta-hydroxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8alpha-olide (1), 6beta-angeloyloxy-10beta-hydroxy-8beta-methoxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8alpha-olide (2), 6beta-(2'-methylbutanoyloxy)-10beta-hydroxy-8beta-methoxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8alpha-olide (3), 6beta-angeloyloxy-10beta-hydroxy-8alpha-methoxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8beta-olide (4), 6beta-(2'-methylbutanoyloxy)-10beta-hydroxy-8alpha-methoxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8beta-olide (5) and 8beta,10beta-dihydroxy-6beta-methoxyeremophil-7(11)-en-12,8alpha-olide (6), together with one monoterpene (3 R,4 R,6 S)-3,6-dihydroxy-1-menthene (7), two triterpenes lupeol (8) and ursolic acid (9), and beta-sitosterol (10). The structures of five new constituents (1-5) were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including 2D-NMR experiments. The compounds 1, 5 and 7 showed antibacterial activity by being assayed against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli.