| Abstract: | Two dammarane‐type saponins with a novel aglycone derived from the parent 16,22‐epoxy‐24‐methylidenedammarane and lotoside A, a new lotogenin derivative, were isolated from the MeOH extract of the stem bark of the Brazilian medicinal plant Zizyphus joazeiro, in addition to the known saponin 3β‐{{O‐O‐α‐L ‐arabinofuranosyl‐(1→2)]‐O‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→3)]]‐α‐L ‐arabinopyranosyl}oxy}jujubogenin ( 1 ). The structures of the new compounds were determined as 16,22‐epoxy‐3β‐(β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl)oxy]‐24‐methylidenedammarane‐15α,16α,20β‐triol ( 2 ), 16,22‐epoxy‐3β‐{{O‐O‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)]‐O‐β‐D ‐apiofuranosyl‐(1→3)]]‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐α‐L ‐arabinopyranosyl}oxy}‐24‐methylidenedammarane‐15α,16α,20β‐triol ( 3 ), and 3β‐{{O‐O‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)]‐O‐β‐D ‐apiofuranosyl‐(1→3)]]‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐α‐L ‐arabinopyranosyl}oxy}lotogenin ( 4 ) by means of 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR spectroscopy, as well as FAB mass spectrometry. For the novel aglycone, we propose the name joazeirogenin and, for the new saponins, joazeiroside A ( 2 ) and B ( 3 ). Joazeirogenin was found to be 16,22‐epoxy‐24‐methylidenedammarane‐3β,15α,16α,20β‐tetrol. |
