Flavanoids from the stems of Aquilaria sinensis

Aim To study the chemical constituents from the stems of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg. Methods Chromatographic separations of silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and prep-HPLC were used. All the structures were elucidated on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic analysis. Results Twelve flavonoids were isolated and their structures were identified as aquilarinoside A 1 ( 1 ), lethedioside A ( 2 ), 7, 4′-dimethylapigenin-5- O -xylosylglucoside ( 3 ), lethedoside A ( 4 ), 7-hydroxyl-4′-methyl-5 -O- glucosideflavonoid ( 5 ), 7, 3′-dimethyl-4′-hydroxyl-5- O -glucosideflavonoide ( 6 ), 7, 4′-dimethyl-5- O -glucosideflavonoide ( 7 ), 5-hydroxyl-7, 4′-dimethoxyflavone ( 8 ), luteolin-7, 3′, 4′-trimethyl ( 9 ), hydroxylgenkwanin ( 10 ), 5, 7-dihydroxyl-4′-methoxyflavone ( 11 ), and formononetin ( 12 ). Conclusion Compound 1 is a new flavone glycoside, and compounds 2 , 4 - 7 were isolated from genus Aquilaria sinensis for the first time. 5- O -glycosylflavones 1-7 showed inhibitory activity for nitric oxide (NO) production by activated RAW 264.7 cells.