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PC-63

Study on the chemical constituents of the Sri Lankan plant Atalantia

ceylanica

1
2
Bo-Zhang Li, Namal Perera, Chih-Chuang Liaw* ,1,3

1 Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University,
Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan
2 Department of Physical Sciences and Technology, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka,
Belihuloya, Sri Lanka
3 Doctoral Degree Program in Marine Biotechnology, National Sun Yat-sen University,
Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
* E-mail: ccliaw@mail.nsysu.edu.tw

Abstract
Medicinal plants have played a vital role in disease treatment since ancient times. Their study
and application have contributed significantly to the foundation of modern drug discovery,
exemplified by compounds such as ginkgolides and bilobalide from Ginkgo biloba and
digitoxins from Digitalis spp. Sri Lanka, one of the earliest regions where numerous medicinal
plants were identified, possesses rich biodiversity that supports a wide variety of
pharmacologically valuable species. Atalantia ceylanica, a shrub belonging to the Rutaceae
family and native to tropical regions, such as Sri Lanka, India, and Vietnam, has long been used
in traditional medicine for the treatment of bronchitis, catarrhal inflammation, and malaria.
Nevertheless, scientific investigations into its secondary metabolites and pharmacological
activities remain limited. In this study, the methanol extract of A. ceylanica, provided through
collaboration with Professor Namal Perera, was subjected to medium-pressure liquid
chromatography (MPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for
fractionation and purification. As a result, two new labdane-typ diterpenoids, compounds 1 (11-
4) and 2 (12-6), and two new labdane-type glycosides, compounds 3 (W3-7) and 4 (W5-2), as
well as nine known compounds, including four labdane-type diterpenoids: lambertianic acid
(5), ent-labda-8(17),13-dien-19-oic acid-15,16-olide (6), isocupressic acid (7), 16-hydroxy-
8(17),13-labdadien-15,16-olid-19-oic acid (8); four coumarins: luvangetin (9), xanthotoxin
(10), isopimpinellin (11), and rutaretin (12); one phenylpropanoid: cnidioside B (13), were
isolated. Structures of all isolates were eludicated by detailed analysis of 1D and 2D NMR as
well as MS spectral data. Among them, compounds 1/2 and compounds 3/4 are a pair of
stereoisomers, although the NMR spectra of compound 1 (11-4) are identical to those of
meliosmarhoifol, but only their HR-MS data differed. Further investigations into the biological
activities of these isolates are underway.

Keywords: Atalantia ceylanica; Medicinal plant, Labdane-type diterpenoids; Coumarins,