Nine new dihydro-β-agarofuran sesquiterpene polyesters from the leaves of Tripterygium wilfordii

Abstract

Nine previously undescribed dihydro-β-agarofuran type sesquiterpene polyesters, tripteresters A–I (1–9), along with three known analogues (10–12), were isolated from the leaves of Tripterygium wilfordii. Their chemical structures were elucidated using a combination of NMR, HRESIMS data, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) studies, and a single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiment determined the absolute configuration of 1. All isolated sesquiterpene polyesters were evaluated for their neuroprotective activities against H₂O₂-induced cell injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, among which compounds 1, 4, and 12 exhibited comparable neuroprotective effects to the positive control.