Investigation On The Chemical Constituents Of Saussurea Superba

Saussurea superba Anthony belongs to genus Saussurea DC of compositae family, wildly distributed in Northeastern and Northwestern mountainous regions of China. The genus Saussurea DC consists of about 400 species distributed throughout Asia and Europe, and more than 300 species were discovered in China. Plants of the genus Saussurea are commonly used as traditional Chinese medicine for anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and improving cardiovascular system functions.In this thesis, we summarize the plant classification and pharmacological activities of coumarins in plants and report the systematic phytochemical studies of the whole plant of saussurea superba, which was collected in Huzhu County of Qinghai Province, China. 26 pure compounds were isolated from the ethanolic extract by means of silica gel column chromatography (CC), preparative thin layer chromatography (prep-TLC), recrystallization, etc. The structures of 25 compounds were elucidated as triterpenoids, steroids, coumarins, fatty acids, etc., on the basis of spectral evidences, along with comparison to authentic samples or the data in the literature.In view of the four coumarins (umbelliferone, scopoletin, skimmin, scopolin) extracted from Saussurea superba were the dominant active ingredients in the plants, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was explored for the measurement of these components. Our study is to set up a simple and rapid electrophoresis method for simultaneous determination of the four coumarins, and the current analytical methods have not yet been reported to isolate and identify this plant. The conclusions revealed that CZE was a useful, simple and reliable approach for the analysis of these components.The results of this thesis is of great significance to further research the chemical classification, pharmacological activities, the development and utilization of this genus.