A novel nitrogen-containing compound, named xylactam (1), was isolated from the fruiting bodies of ascomycete Xylaria euglossa together with two known compounds penochalasin B2 and neoechinulin A. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral data. Fruiting bodies of Xylaria euglossa were collected at Ailao mountain of Yunnan province, P. R. China, in July, 2002 and identified by Prof. Mu Zang, Kunming Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the Kunming Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The air-dried fruiting bodies of X. euglossa (0.5 kg) were crushed and extracted with chloroform/methanol (1/1, v/v) four times at room temperature. The combined extracts were concentrated in vacuo to give a syrup (25 g), which was partitioned between chloroform and water. The chloroform soluble part (17 g) was subjected to silica gel column chromatography employing a gradient elution with chloroform/methanol (from 100 : 0 to 85 : 15, v/v) to give six fractions. Fraction II (100 : 1, v/v) was chromatographed on silica gel (petroleum ether/acetone 85 : 15), yielding penochalasin B2 (30 mg). Fraction III (98 : 2, v/v) was rechromatographed through silica gel, eluting with petroleum ether/acetone 80 : 20 (v/v) to give neoechinulin A (5 mg). Fraction VI (85 : 15, v/v) was passed through Sephadex LH-20, eluting with chloroform/methanol (1 : 1, v/v). A fraction exhibited strong yellow and white-blue fluorescence at 254 nm and was further purified on silica gel in petroleum ether/acetone (7 : 3, v/v) to afford compound 1 (8 mg).
KeywordsXylactam (1) was obtained as a white powder. Its molecular formula was determined as C 23 H 31 NO 6 from the quasi-molecular ion peak at m/z 418.2211 ([MϩH] ϩ , calcd. 418.2229) in the positive-ion HR-ESI-MS. Twenty-three signals in the 13 C-NMR (DEPT) spectra of 1 were recognized (9ϫC, 2ϫCH, 11ϫCH 2 , 1ϫCH 3 ), including three carbonyl C-atoms (d 172.4, 173.5 and 204.0) and six aromatic quartery C-atoms (d 102.5, 120.8, 125.9, 128.2, 155.0, 164.8). To fulfill the molecular formula of