Chemistry and Biological Activity of Anthraquinones from Morinda Elliptica (Rubiaceae)
Morinda ellipfica or locally known as "mengkudu kecil" is a medicinal plant commonly used by the Malays i n Peninsular Malaysia. The plant parts are used in various ways to treat many health problems and ailments. Literature search did not reveal any reports on its chemical constituents...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1999
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/8661/1/FSAS_1999_24_A.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/8661/ |
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| Summary: | Morinda ellipfica or locally known as "mengkudu kecil" is a medicinal plant
commonly used by the Malays i n Peninsular Malaysia. The plant parts are used in
various ways to treat many health problems and ailments. Literature search did not
reveal any reports on its chemical constituents or biological activity. So, it is believed
tl1at this is the first study on the chemical constituents and biological activity of
Morinda ellipfica.
Phytochemical studies on roots of this plant have resulted in the isolation of
a new anthraquinone, 2-formyl-1-hydroxyanthraquinone, and ten known
anthraquinones, 1-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone, nordamnacanthal,
damnacanthal, lucidin-w-methylether, rubiadin, soranjidiol, morindone, rubiadin-1-methylether, morindone-5-methyl ether and a lizarin-1-methylether. The structures
of the anthraquinones were established based on spectral studies using ultravioletvisible
spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, one and two dimensional nuclear
magnetic resonance spectra, and mass spectrometry.The new anthraquinone, 2-formyl- -hydroxyanthraquinone, was synthesized
through a four step synthesis from phthalide anhydride and 4-bromophenol. The
steps involved a Friedel-Crafts condensation of the starting mate rial to form the
anth raqu inone rings followed by debromination and methylation before an oxidation
step to the targeted aldehyde.
Studies on the biological activity of the anthraquinones were conducted
using some selected bioassay procedures. The anthraquinones were subjected to a
battery of bioactivity testings, which included antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxicity and
antioxidant assays. The results of these tests indicated that some of the compounds
do possess interesting biological activity especially in the cytotoxicity and antioxidant
assays. Damnacanthal and nordamnacanthal were found to be active against many
cell lines tested and may have potential to be developed as anticancer agents. |
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