Abstract:In order to understand the chemical constituents of Hibiscus syriacus stem, thirteen copounds were isolated from 85% ethanol extract of its stems by several column chromatographic techniques, such as MPLC- MCI-gel, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Based on physicochemical properties and NMR spectral data, their structures were identified as methyl 4-[2-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(hydroxymethyl) ethyl] sinapate (1), 2,6,2ʹ,6ʹ-tetramethoxy-4,4ʹ-bis(2,3-epoxy-1-hydroxypropyl) biphenyl (2), 3,4,5- trimethoxycinnamic acid methyl ester (3), 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acid methyl ester (4), trans-p-hydroxy- cinnamic acid methyl ester (5), methyl caffeate (6), methyl feruate (7), syringaresinol (8), clemaphenol A (9), (E)-2-methoxy-5-propenylphenyl β-d-glucopyranoside (10), orientin (11), luteolin (12), and apigenin (13). Among them, compounds 1-10 were lignans and compounds 11-13 were flavonoids. Compound 1 was a new natural product, compound 1-12 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 1-10 at 40 μmol/L did not exhibit good cytotoxic activities to in vitro growth of human leukemia HL-60 cells and human lung cancer A-549 cells.
