[Chemical constituents of aerial parts of Gelsemium elegans]

Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the aerial parts of Gelsemium elegans.

Method: Compounds were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatography, as well as semiprep arative HPLC, and their structures were identified by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic methods, such as NMR and MS.

Result: Sixteen compounds were obtained and identified from G. elegans, including nine alkaloids: koumine (1), gelsenicine (2), 19-(Z)-akuammidine (3), gelsemoxonine(4), gelsemin (5), gelsevirine (6), humantenine (7), 11-methoxygelsemamide (8) and gelegamine D (9). Three megastigmane glycosides: (3R, 5S, 6S, 7E, 9R)-megastigman-7-ene-3, 5, 6, 9-tetrol-9-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (10), (6R, 7E, 9R)-9-hydroxy-4, 7-megastigmadien-3-one-9-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 --> 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside] (11) and (6S, 7E, 9R) -6, 9-dihydroxy-4, 7-megastigmadien-3-one-9-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 --> 6) -beta-D-glucopyranoside] (12). Two flavone C-glycosides: orientin (13) and isorientin (14); one iridoid glycoside, sweroside (15) and one fructoside, n-butyl-alpha-D-fructofuranoside (16).

Conclusion: Compounds 10-16 were isolated from the genus Gelsemium for the first time.