J Nat Med (2013) 67:190–195
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COOH
O
Fig. 1 Structure of compounds
1, 2 and their n-butyl esters
(1a and 2a)
Compound 2 was obtained as a colorless amorphous
powder. The negative HRESIMS of 2 exhibited its [M-H]-
peak at m/z 661.3612 (calc. 661.3588), consistent with the
molecular formula C36H54O11. Its 1H and 13C NMR spectra
were closely analogous to those of 1, except for the
appearance of a pair of doublets due to a hydroxymethyl
group (dH 3.76, d, J = 11.3 Hz; dH 4.45, d, J = 11.3 Hz).
The molecular weight of 2 is only one more oxygen atom
than that of 1. Therefore, compound 2 was considered to be
a 24-hydroxy derivative of 1, deduced from the crosspeaks
of H-24 (dH 3.76, 4.45) coupled with the carbon signal C-3
(dC 89.2), C-4 (dC 44.4), and C-23 (dC 23.5), observed in
the HMBC experiment (Fig. 2). The aglycone moiety of 2
was therefore identified as melilotigenin [9, 10] and com-
pound 2 was finally established as 3b,24-dihydroxy-22-
oxo-12-oleanen-29-oic acid 3-O-b-D-glucuropyranoside
and was named caraganin B.
H
R1OOC
HO
HO
H
O
O
H
OH
R2
1. R1 = H
R2 = CH3
R2 = CH3
1a. R1 = n-butyl
2. R1 = H
R2 = CH2OH
R2 = CH2OH
2a. R1 = n-butyl
3.7 Hz) suggested the presence of a b-oxygenated substi-
tution at C-3. In addition, a group of sugar-proton signals
occurred in the narrow spectral region of dH 5.1 to 4.0,
of which one anomeric proton signal at dH 5.10
(d, J = 7.5 Hz) indicated b-D-linkage of the sugar moiety
in 1. The 13C-NMR spectrum of 1 revealed 6 carbons for
the glycone portion and 30 carbon signals for the aglycone
portion. Combined with the analysis of the DEPT and
HMQC spectra of 1, the aglycone portion showed the
presence of a ketone carbon at dC 215.0, two carboxyl
carbon at dC 179.2 and 173.6, a tri-substituted olefinic
group (dC 141.6 and 124.9), an oxymethine at dC 89.1,
seven methyl carbons at dC 28.3, 25.7, 21.8, 21.1, 17.2,
17.1, and 15.8, nine methylene carbons at dC 46.7, 41.8,
38.9, 33.0, 27.5, 26.8, 25.6, 24.0, and 18.6, three methine
carbons at dC 55.8, 47.9, and 47.2, and six quaternary
carbons at dC 48.4, 44.8, 42.2, 40.1, 39.7, and 37.0. The
above-mentioned evidence indicated an oleanane triterpe-
noid aglycon for 1. Further analysis of the 13C-NMR data
of glycone [dC 173.6 (s), 107.4 (d), 78.3 (d), 78.0 (d), 75.7
(d), and 73.6 (d)] indicated glucuronic acid as the sugar
moiety of 1. The D-configuration for glucuronic acid was
determined by the measurement of optical rotation after
separation from the crude sugar residue. The point of
attachment of the sugar chain was deduced by the long-
range 1H–13C correlation observed from the anomeric
proton (dH 5.10) to C-3 (dC 89.1) of the aglycone (Fig. 2).
Moreover, the typical signal of ketone carbon at dC 215.0
was located at the C-22 position by the correlations with dH
1.30 (3H, s, H-28), dH 3.52 (d, J = 14.5 Hz, H-21a), and
2.75 (d, J = 14.5 Hz, H-21b) in the HMBC spectrum. The
NOESY correlations (Fig. 3) were detected between H-3/
H-5, H-3/H-23, H-5/H-9, H-24/H-25, H-25/H-26, H-9/H-
27, H-18/H-30, and H-18/H-28, indicating a b-orientation
for H-18, H-24, H-25, H-26, H-28, and H-30, and an
a-orientation for H-3, H-5, H-9, H-23, and H-27. The 1H–1H
COSY spectrum revealed the existence of fragment –CH2-
CH2-CH-, from C-1 to C-3, fragment –CH-CH2-CH2-,
from C-5 to C-7, and fragment –CH-CH2-CH-, from C-9 to
C-12 (Fig. 2). The aglycone moiety of 1 was therefore
identified as subprogenin D [9] and compound 1 was finally
established as 3b-hydroxy-22-oxo-12-oleanen-29-oic acid
3-O-b-D-glucuropyranoside and was named caraganin A.
Compound 1a was obtained as a colorless amorphous
powder. The positive HRESIMS of 3 exhibited its
[M?Na]? peak at m/z 725.4263 (calc. 725.4235) consistent
with the molecular formula C40H62O10. The IR spectrum of
3 also indicated the existence of hydroxyl (3445 cm-1) and
carbonyl groups (1732, 1704 cm-1). The 1H- and 13C-
NMR data of 3 are summarized in Tables 1 and 2, sug-
gesting the presence of most structural features in common
with compound 1 except for the presence of an oxygenated
n-butyl group (one triplet methyl and three methylene
groups), which led to the assumption that 3 is an n-butyl
ester derivative of 1. In the HMBC spectrum, the oxy-
genated methylene protons at dH 4.38 correlated with the
carboxyl carbon of the glucuronic acid at dC 170.5. This
means glucuronic acid has been n-butyl esterified. Fur-
thermore, all of the correlations supporting the structure of
1 were observed in the 2D NMR spectroscopic data of 1a,
suggesting that the configuration of 1a was the same as 1.
Thus, 1a was established as 3b-hydroxy-22-oxo-12-olea-
nen-29-oic acid 3-O-b-D-glucuronopyranosyl-60-O-n-butyl
ester, which might be an artifact produced from 1 during
the extraction procedure with n-BuOH.
Compound 2a was obtained as a colorless amorphous
powder. The positive HRESIMS of 2a exhibited its
[M?Na]? peak at m/z 741.4163 (calc. 741.4184) and gave
the molecular formula C40H62O11. Further comparison of the
NMR data of 2a with those of 2 revealed that 2a is an n-butyl
ester derivative of 2, shown by the presence of an oxygenated
n-butyl group (one triplet methyl and three methylene
groups). HMBC correlation observed from the oxygenated
methylene protons at dH 4.36 to the carboxyl carbon of the
glucuronic acid at dC 170.4 indicated that the glucuronic acid
has been n-butyl esterified. Compound 2a was therefore
established as 3b,24-dihydroxy-22-oxo-12-oleanen-29-oic
acid 3-O-b-D-glucuronopyranosyl-60-O-n-butyl ester, which
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