Triterpene glycosides of alfalfa. III. Medicoside I

On the basis of chemical transformations and with the aid of physicochemical results, the structure of glycoside I isolated from the roots of the plantMedicago sativa has been established as hederagin 3-O-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside] 28-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. Compound (I), C₅₂H₈₄O₂₂, mp 210–212°C, α] _D ²¹ +38.4° (c 1.48; methanol). Acid hydrolysis of (I) led to hederogenin (II) — C₃₀H₄₈O₄, mp 326–330°C, α] _D ²³ +84.2° (c 0.19; pyridine. The Hakomorimethylation of glycoside (I) yielded the permethylate (IV) — C₆₅H₁₁O₂₂ α] _D ²³ +41.6° (c 1.79; methanol). The GLC analysis of the products of the methanolysis of compound (IV) showed the presence of 3,4,6-tri-O-methyl-D-glucopyranose, 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-methyl-D-glucopyranose, 3,4-di-O-methyl-L-O-arabinopyranose, and 2,3,4-tri-o-methyl-L-arabinopyranose. The alkaline hydrolysis of glycoside I gave compound (III) with mp 230–233°C, α] _D ²¹ +35.2° (c 0.21; methanol), which was identified as medicoside C. Details of the PMR spectrum are given for compound (IV) and of the IR spectrum for compound (I).