The genus Erigeron is a common group of Compositae plants, and Erigeron annuus (L.) PERS. (himejyon in Japanese), Erigeron philadelphicus L. (harujion in Japanese) and Erigeron sumatrensis RETZ. (oarechinogiku in Japanese) are now, as naturalized weeds, widely distributed throughout urban and rural areas of Japan.1) Among these, E. annuus has been used as an hypoglycemic drug in China.2) The constituents of E. annuus, E. philadelphicus, and E. sumatrensis have been previously investigated and shown to contain monoterpenoids, 3) sesquiterpenoids, 3) diterpenoid, 4) polyacetylenic compounds, 5) and g-pyrone derivatives. 1) Recently we reported the isolation and structural elucidation of norisoprenoids, 6) sesquiterpenoids, 7) diterpenoids, 7) triterpenoids, 8) and sterols 8) from the aerial parts and roots of E. annuus, E. philadelphicus, and E. sumatrensis. As part of our continuing study of the constituents of the genus Erigeron plants, we now report the isolation and structural elucidation of two new cyclopentenone derivatives, erigerenons A (1) and B (2), and a new cyclooctadienone derivative, erigerenone C (3), from the aerial parts of E. annuus, E. philadelphicus, and E. sumatrensis.Compound 1 was isolated as a colorless oil, [a] D ϩ7.3°. The molecular formula was determined to be C 12 H 16 O 4 by high-resolution (HR)-electron ionization (EI)-MS. The IR spectrum showed the presence of ester (1735 cm
Ϫ1) and a,bunsaturated ketone (1691, 1596 cm Ϫ1 ) functionalities. The UV spectrum also suggested the presence of an a,b-unsaturated ketone (l max ϭ237 nm). The 1 H- (Table 1) and 13 C-NMR spectra ( H COSY spectrum of 1 implied connectivities for H 2 -2-H-3, H-3-H-7, H-7-H-8, H-8-H-9, and H-9-H 3 -10. Interpretation of the HMBC spectrum revealed correlations from H 2 -2 to C-1 and C-4; H-5 to C-3 and C-7; H-7 to C-6; CH 3 O-1 to C-1; and CH 3 O-6 to C-6. Thus the gross structure of 1 was deduced to be as shown in Fig. 1. The relative stereochemistry at C-3 and C-7 was established by comparing the proton coupling constant between H-3 and H-7 with analogous couplings observed for other cyclopentenones.9,10) In cyclopentene rings, a vicinal coupling constant of 5-6 Hz normally indicates a cis relationship, while a coupling constant of ca. 2 Hz suggests a trans relationship.11) These observations have been extended to cyclopentenone rings and a similar correlation has been observed.9,10) Thus, in the case of 1, the small coupling constant of 2.2 Hz is suggestive of a trans relationship between H-3 and H-7. The geometry of the D 8 -double bond was deduced to be Z from 1 H-1 H coupling constant (Jϭ11.0 Hz) between H-8 and H-9. On the basis of the above data, the structure of 1 was represented as shown in the formula.Compound 2 Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 981-8558, Japan. Received March 6, 2003; accepted March 30, 2003 Two new cyclopentenone derivatives, erigerenones A (1) and B (2), and a new cyclooctadienone derivative, erigerenone C (3), were isolated from the aerial parts of Erigeron philadelphicus L. Compound 2 ...