An unusual triterpene from Simaba suffruticosa (Simaroubaceae)
The Simaroubaceae family comprises around 32 genera and 200 species, occurring mainly in tropical America, Asia and western Africa1. Many of these species are used in folk medicine as anthelmintic, amebicidal properties and for the treatment of malaria and various types of cancer. Most genera of the Simaroubaceae family are recognized by the amount of bitter compounds attributed to the present of quassinoids, which receive great attention because its antitumor, antiviral, antimalarial and antileukemic activities2. Within this family, the genus Simaba is known by the bioproduction of these quassinoids and also of triterpenes, which are also of biological importance, such as cytotoxic activity. The aim of this work was to investigate the chemical constitution of Simaba suffruticosa, which has no chemical study reported in the literature so far. Its roots were collected in the cerrado region of Triângulo Mineiro, Araguari - MG. The material was dried at room temperature, ground, and subjected to extraction with hexane. The phytochemical study of the hexane extract was carried out by column chromatography (CC) and preparative thin layer chromatography on silica gel. In the structural determination of the compounds were used mainly NMR uni (1H and 13C) and bidimensional (1H-1H-COSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC) and high resolution mass spectroscopy (HRESI-MS). From the hexane extract were isolated and identified the triterpenoids, hispidol A and B3 and the triterpene eurilene4 (Figure 1). The HRESI-MS of eurilene showed the peak corresponding to the molecular ion (m/z 617.4029 [M+Na]+, C34H58NaO8, calc. m/z 617.3982). The compounds isolated in this work, have been isolated from other species, but they are unpublished in the species Simaba suffruticosa, which has no chemical reports in the literature.