A new dimeric diarylheptanoid from the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum

AIM: To study the chemical constituents of the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Hance. METHOD: Compounds were isolated by repeated column chromatography, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated with the T98G and B16F10 cell lines by the MTT assay. RESULTS: A dimeric diarylheptanoid, named alpinin B (1), along with three known diarylheptanoids were obtained, and their structures were identified as alpinin B (1), 1, 7-diphenyl-3,5-heptanedione (2), (4E)-1, 7-diphenylhept-4-en-3-one (3) and (4E)-7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenylhept-4-en-3-one (4). CONCLUSION: Compound 1 is a new dimeric diarylheptanoid. The biosynthetic pathway of 1 was speculated to originate from a Michael reaction between compounds 2 and 3. Compound 3 showed cytotoxicity against the human glioblastoma T98G cell line with IC50 of 27 mu mol.L-1.