Chemical constituents investigation of Daphne tangutica.

A phytochemical study of an ethanol-soluble extract from the root barks of Daphne tangutica Maxim., a traditional Tibetan herb medicine, led to the isolation of 30 compounds, including eight daphnane diterpenes, nine coumarines, six lignans, five phenylpropanoid derivatives, beta-sitosterol and p-hydroxy benzonate. Two compounds out of these isolates are new daphne diterpene analogs, and their structures were established as 1,2 alpha-dihydro-5 beta-hydroxy-6 alpha,7 alpha-epoxy- resiniferomol-14-benzonate, and 1,2 beta-dihydro-5 beta-hydroxy-6 alpha,7 alpha-epoxy-resiniferonol-14-benzonate, respectively, on the basis of spectroscopic methods. Additionally, this is the first time that 13 known compounds have been isolated and identified from this traditional Tibetan medicinal plant. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.