Iris potaninii MAZIM. (family Iridaceae) has been used in traditional Mongolian medicine for the treatment of various diseases, such as bacterial infections, cancer, and inflammation. Some benzoquinones isolated from Iris species have been used as anticancer agents in modern Chinese medicine. 1,2) In our previous papers we reported that 10 new flavones, a new isoflavone, two new quinones, and five new peltogynoids were isolated and their structures elucidated from other species of the genus.3-5) This paper describes the structure elucidation of two isoflavones (1, 2) and one flavanone (3) isolated from the roots of this plant.
Results and DiscussionThe methanolic extract of the underground parts of I. potaninii was subjected to repeated chromatography on columns of silica gel, Labor RP-18, and Sephadex LH-20 and preparative thin-layer and HPLC to obtain compounds 1-9. Compound 1 was isolated as a colorless crystal. The high-resolution electron impact mass spectrum (HR-EI-MS) of 1 showed the [M] ϩ at m/z: 360.0845, in agreement with the molecular formula C 18 H 16 O 8 (Calcd 360.0831). The 1 H-NMR spectrum of 1 showed signals for three aromatic protons, and one olefinic proton along with signals for three methoxy groups. The broad-band decoupled 13 C-NMR spectrum showed resonances for all 18 carbons in molecule 1, which included three methyl, four methine, and 11 quater- The UV spectrum by the application of diagnostic shift reagents showed absorbance at l max (MeOH) (nm): 214, 260, 292, 375 sh, (ϩAlCl 3 ) 216, 264, 296 sh, 388 (unchanged), (ϩNaOAc) 272, 392. The bathochromic shift with NaOAc (260®272) indicates the presence of a free hydroxyl group at position C-7, 6) while an absence of large bathochromic shifts in band-I with AlCl 3 and NaOMe indicates that the C-5 and C-4Ј positions are free or substituted. , 6,3,4-trimethoxy-7,8,5-trihydroxyisoflavone (1), 7,4-dimethoxy-8,3,5-trihydroxy-6-O-b b-D-glucopyranosylisoflavone (2), and 5,3,3-trihydroxy-7,4-dimethoxyflavanone (3) have been isolated from the underground parts of Iris potaninii along with known isoflavones (4-8) and iriflophenone (9). The structures of the new compounds were determined using NMR and mass spectroscopic methods.