Ephedrate A, a new phenol compound from the root of Ephedra sinica

Abstract

ObjectiveTo study the chemical constituents of the roots of Ephedra sinica Stapf. MethodsThe roots of E. sinica were extracted with 90% ethanol and isolated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH 20, and semipreparative RP-HPLC. All the compounds were identified based on spectral analysis (including MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR, and 2D NMR) and compared with the reported literature. Their cytotoxicities were evaluated against three human cancer cell lines. ResultsTwo compounds were isolated from the roots of E. sinica and identified as (E)-eicosyl 3,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxycinnamate (1) and (E)-hexadecyl-ferulate (2). ConclusionCompound 1 was a new phenol named ephedrate A, and compound 2 was newly isolated from this plant. These two compounds showed no obvious cytotoxic activity, and their medicinal activities need to be studied further.