Two New 3,4 seco Cycloartane Triterpenes from Gardenia sootepensis
Introduction. The genus Gardenia (family Rubiaceae) comprises about 250 species, and most of them are growing in the tropical and subtropical area of the eastern hemisphere. Five species and one variant of Gardenia are found in China [1] Gardenia sootepensis is a medicinal plant widely grown in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, P. R. China, and used in folk medicine for treating diseases, such as blood congestion and swelling [2] The Gardenia plants, such as G. sootepensis, G. aubryi, G. obtusifolia, and G. tubifera, have proven to be a rich source of 3,4 seco cycloartane triterpenes [3 11] Such compounds often have biological activities, such as cytotoxic and anti HIV 1 effects [3] [5 7] [12] As part of our ongoing program on the discovery of anticancer agents, two new 3,4 seco cycloartane triterpenes, sootepins F and G (1 and 2) and two known compounds (Fig. 1) were isolated and identified from the leaves and twigs of G. sootepensis. Herein, we report the isolation and structure elucidation of these compounds.