Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. ("Du Zhong" in Chinese and "Tu Chung" in Korean), the sole species in the genus Eucommia and family Eucommiaceae, is a deciduous tree indigenous in China and widely cultured in eastern Asian countries [1]. The species is highly valued and commonly used in traditional medicines to treat various diseases, especially to relieve hypertension, protect the nervous system, treat diabetics, cure lower back pain, and prevent miscarriage [2,3]. Previous phytochemical investigations of E. ulmoides were mainly focused on its stem barks and leaves. However, the chemical constituents of E. ulmoides root have not been reported to date. As one chain of our systematic study of this valuable medicinal species, 13 secondary metabolites, including one triterpene [ursolic acid (1)], four phenylpropanoids [chlorogenic acid (2), caffeic acid (3), ferulic acid (4), and p-coumaric acid (5)], and eight flavonoids [luteolin (6), kaempferol (7), quercetin (8), astragalin (9), hirsutin (10), avicularin (11), quercitrin (12), and rutin (13)], were isolated from the root barks of E. ulmoides Equipment. 1 H, 13 C, and correlation NMR spectra were recorded in (CD 3 ) 2 CO or CD 3 OD (Sigma) with TMS (Sigma) as an internal standard on a Bruker Avance DPX 400 spectrometer at the operating frequency of 400 MHz ( 1 H) and 100 MHz ( 13 C). EI and positive FAB-MS spectra were measured with a micromass autospec M363 spectrometer. Eluents were collected using an SBS-160 fraction collector. Thin-layer chromatography were carried out on DC-Plastikfolien Cellulose F (Merck) plates and developed with t-BuOH-AcOH-H 2 O (3:1:1, v/v, solvent A) and AcOH-H 2 O (3:47, v/v, solvent B). Visualization was by UV light (254 and 365 nm) and by spraying with vanillin-AcOH-EtOH (60:0.15:6, w/v/v) or 1% ethanolic FeCl 3 solution followed by heating.
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