Studies On The Xanthone Constituents In Two Species Plants Of Polygala L.

Radix Polygalae, the root of Polygala tenuifolia Wild, or P. sibirica L. (Polygalaceae), is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which was used as a sedative, expectorant, and resuscitating agent. Other plants of Polygala genus were also widely used in folk of southern China. Previous chemical research demonstrated that plants of genus Polygala mainly contained xanthones, sapoins and oligosaccharides. In order to determinate the relationship between the chemical constituents and bioactivities, as well as develop a method for the quality control of Polygala L, the roots of P. caudata Rehd. et Wils. and P. fallax Hemsl. were subjected to phytochemical and pharmacological studies, the analytical methods based on HPLC and TLC technology were also established.Twenty-seven compounds were isolated from the ethanol extracts of the roots of P. caudata by various column chromatographies. On the basis of spectral analysis (including IR, UV, EIMS, HREIMS, ESI-MS, TOF-MS, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, DEPT, ¹H-¹H COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY), twenty-five structures of them were elucidated, of which six were new, seven were isolated from Polygala L. for the first time and three were first isolated from this plant. The structures of new compounds are elucidated as follows: Polycaudxanthone 1 (2-hydroxy-1, 6, 7-trimethoxyxanthone, PC-X-01), Polycaudxanthone II (1, 4-dimethoxy-2, 3-methyllenedioxyxanthone, PC-...