acid dioctadecyl ester. MTT assay showed that 1 had weak inhibitory activity against growth of CNE-1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line.Key word: brugnanin, mangrove, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, MTT, CNE-1.Bruguiera gymnorrhiza is one of the ecosystemically important mangrove plants in the estuaries of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China [1]. It has been used as folk medicine for the treatment of diseases such as fever, diarrhea, haemorrhage, inflammation, and malaria [2]. Previous natural products chemistry efforts on this plant species have yielded some structurally interesting natural products such as diterpenes [3,4], cyclic disulfides [5] and polydisulfides [6], and aromatic compounds [7]. As part of our investigations of bioactive compounds in mangrove plants indigenous to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, we examined the stem bark of B. gymnorrhiza collected from Shankou Town, Hepu County. As a result, we isolated and identified a previously unknown neolignan diacid ester, brugnanin (1), which possesses a unique syn-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran skeleton.The air-dried outer layer and inner layer of the stem bark of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza were extracted with 95% ethanol and partitioned with petroleum ether. The partition of petroleum ether was then subjected to silica gel column chromatography, and from the eluting fractions of 10% ethyl acetate in petroleum ether, brugnanin (1) was obtained.Brugnanin (1) was obtained as a white amorphous powder. The fast atom bombardment mass spectrum (FAB-MS) of 1 presented a quasi-molecular ion peak [M+H] + at m/z 891. The high resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass (HRMALDI-MS) spectrum of 1 gave a quasi-molecular ion peak [M+Na] + at m/z 913.6549. Combined with other spectroscopic data, these mass data allowed us to establish the molecular formula C 56 H 90 O 8 , which has a calculated relative molecular weight of 890.6636.

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