Chemical Constituents from the Fermented Mycelia of the Medicinal Fungus Xylaria nigripes

Nineteen compounds mainly including pyrrole‐containing alkaloids and phytosterols were isolated from the EtOH extract of the fermented mycelia of Xylaria nigripes, a precious medicinal fungus known as Wuling Shen in Chinese. On the basis of spectroscopic methods, the structures of the new naturally occurring compounds were determined to be (4S)‐3,4‐dihydro‐4‐(4‐hydroxybenzyl)‐3‐oxo‐1H‐pyrrolo2,1‐c]1,4]oxazine‐6‐carbaldehyde ( 1 ), methyl (2S)‐2‐2‐formyl‐5‐(hydroxymethyl)‐1H‐pyrrol‐1‐yl]‐3‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)propanoate ( 2 ), and 3‐{4‐(2R)‐(2,3‐dihydroxy‐3‐methylbutoxy]phenyl}‐7‐hydroxy‐4H‐chromen‐4‐one ( 3 ), respectively. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were deduced by the observed Cotton effects in their circular dichroism (CD) spectra, whereas that of the 1,2‐diol moiety in 3 was determined using the Snatzke's method. Their biological activities such as neuroprotective, anti‐neuroinflammatory, and cytotoxic properties were also reported.