Xanthones from aerial parts of Hypericum laricifolium Juss.

Abstract

From the aerial parts of Hypericum laricifolium Juss., twelve compounds were isolated and identified. They were the xanthones: 1-hydroxy-7- methoxyxanthone (1), 1,7-dihydroxy-xanthone (2), 2-hydroxy-xanthone (3), 6-deoxyisojacareubin (4), 1,3-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-xanthone (6), and 1,5,6-trihydroxy-7- methoxy-xanthone (7), together with β-sitosterol, betulinic acid, vanillic acid, isoquercitrin and a mixture of quercetin and isorhamnetin. All the compounds were characterized by spectroscopic and mass spectrometric methods, and by comparison with literature data. Thisis the first report on the presence of xanthones in H.laricifolium. 1,3-Dihydroxy-6-methoxy- xanthone has been previously synthesized, but this is the first report of its isolation from a natural source.