Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. (Pandanaceae) is used as a flavor and in folk medicine in Southeast Asia. The ethanolic crude extract of the aerial parts of P. amaryllifolius exhibited antioxidant, antibiofilm, and anti-inflammatory activities in previous studies. In the current investigation, the purification of the ethanolic extract yielded nine new compounds, including N-acetylnorpandamarilactonines A (1) and B (2); pandalizines A (3) and B (4); pandanmenyamine (5); pandamarilactones 2 (6) and 3 (7), and 5(E)-pandamarilactonine-32 (8); and pandalactonine (9). The isolated alkaloids, with either a γ-alkylidene-α,β-unsaturated-γ-lactone or γ-alkylidene-α,β-unsaturated-γ-lactam system, can be classified into five skeletons including norpandamarilactonine, indolizinone, pandanamine, pandamarilactone, and pandamarilactonine. A plausible biosynthetic route toward 1-5, 7, and 9 is proposed.

Hypervalent molecules are one of the exceptions to the octet rule. Bonding in most hypervalent molecules is well rationalized by the Rundle–Pimentel model (three-center four-electron bond), and high ionic bonding between the ligands and the central atom is essential for stabilizing hypervalent molecules. Here, we produced one of the simplest hypervalent anions, HF−, which is known to deviate from the Rundle–Pimentel model, and identified its ro-vibrational features. High-level ab inito calculations reveal that its bond dissociation energy is comparable to that of dihalides, as supported by secondary photolysis experiments with irradiation at various wavelengths. The charge distribution analysis suggested that the F atom of HF− is negative and hypervalent and the bonding is more covalent than ionic.