Two unusual nitro-substituted hasubanan-type alkaloids, stephalonines J （1） and K （2）, together with ten known alkaloids, protostephanine, dehydrostephanine, （-）-stephanine, （-）-isolaureline, R-roemeroline, （＋）-pronuciferine, （ ＋）-stephafine, （ ＋ ）-N-acetylstephafine, （ ＋ ）-lirioferine, and （ ＋ ）-norlirioferine, were isolated from the whole plant of Stephania longa. Their structures were characterized mainly by spectroscopic methods including IR, MS, and NMR experiments, and the structures of 1 and 2 were further confirmed through chemical correlations with the known alkaloids stephalonines A （1a） and B （2a）, respectively.
Two new sesqulterpenold lactones, namely eupallnllides K and L, were isolated from Eupatorlum Ilndleyanum DC. Their structures were determined by spectral methods, Including 1 D-and 2D-NMR spectra. Cytotoxlc evaluatlon showed that eupallnlllde L exhibited potent cytotoxlclty against P-388 and A-549 tumor cell lines with IC50 values of 0.17 and 2.60 p, mol/L, respectively.
Four cyano-containing compounds, (1E,4,5,6)-4,5,6-trihydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-ylideneacetonitrile (1), lithospermoside (2), 4-hydroxy-2--D-glucopyranosyl oxyphenylacetonitrile (3) and 4-[-D-apiofuranosyl-(16)- O--D-glucopyranosyl oxy]phenylacetonitrile (4), and a nitro-containing one, 4-[-D-xylopyranosyl-(16)-O--D- glucopyranosyloxy]-1-(2-nitroethyl)benzene (5), as well as eleven other types of compounds, were isolated from the roots of Semiaquilegia adoxoides. Their structures were elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods. Among them, 1 and 4 are new isolated compounds. The cyano- and nitro-containing compounds are very rare in plants and their isolation from one traditional Chinese medicine is really interesting.
