Nitidine and oxynitidine, two new benzophenanthridine alkaloids, haveUnlike the other alkaloids of this been isolated from Zanthoxylum nitidurn. class, these compounds are substituted in the 6 : 7 : 2' : 3'-positions.Zanthoxylum nitidum (Lam.) DC. (Fagara nitida), known locally as Ju ti chin niu (golden cow in the soil) , a woody climber with yellow root and small white flowers, grows in most areas of Hong Kong Colony. An investigation of the bacteriostatic properties of the Formosan plant has been reported,, and in Part I we showed that diosmin occurred in the root bark.An alkaloid, oxynitidine, and a salt of a related quaternary alkaloid, nitidine, have now been isolated from the methanol extracts of the root bark and root wood. Oxynitidine is insoluble in water and thus was separated from the quaternary salt when the mixture as isolated was boiled with water. Basification of the aqueous salt solution

Spinosic acid A, one of the sapogenins from Randia spinosa, has been shown to be 38.1 9P-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid. Other sapogenins isolated include oleanolic acid, siaresinolic acid, and another new triterpenoid. spinosic acid B.t The sterols, p-sitosterol and stigmasterol have also been obtained. * Metastable peak observed.19-hydroxy-substituent in a P-amyrin skeleton since all the remaining possible secondary hydroxy-positions possess at least two neighbouring hydrogens and suggests that spinosic acid is either the 18a-H (VIII) or 19p-OH (I) isomer of siaresinolic acid, the latter being favoured on biogenetic grounds. Ruzicka et a1.' prepared a compound which was considered to be (VIII) * by forced

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A new benzophenanthridine alkaloid, avicine, has been isolated from the root bark of Zanthoxylum avicennuc. Avicine is related to nitidine in the same way as sanguinarine is related to chelerythrine. Hesperidin has been obtained from the leaves, and a mixture of hesperidin, diosmin, and, avicennin, from the root bark of this plant.