Structure of Tripterygic Acid A: A New Triterpene of Tripterygium wilfordii

Pentacyclic Triterpenoids Isolated from Celastraceae: A Focus in the 13C-NMR Data

The Celastraceae family comprises about 96 genera and more than 1.350 species, occurring mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The species of this family stand out as important plant sources of triterpenes, both in terms of abundance and structural diversity. Triterpenoids found in Celastraceae species display mainly lupane, ursane, oleanane, and friedelane skeletons, exhibiting a wide range of biological activities such as antiviral, antimicrobial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic against various tumor cell lines. This review aimed to document all triterpenes isolated from different botanical parts of species of the Celastraceae family covering 2001 to 2021. Furthermore, a compilation of their ¹³C-NMR data was carried out to help characterize compounds in future investigations. A total of 504 pentacyclic triterpenes were compiled and distinguished as 29 aromatic, 50 dimers, 103 friedelanes, 89 lupanes, 102 oleananes, 22 quinonemethides, 88 ursanes and 21 classified as others.

Triterpenoids from the stems of Tripterygium regelii

Three new triterpenoids, triregelolides A, B (1, 2), and triregeloic acid (3), were isolated from the stems of Tripterygium regelii along with twenty known triterpene analogues (4–23). The structures of three new compounds were identified by analyzing their NMR spectroscopic and HRESIMS data. Compounds 4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 21–23 were isolated from T. regelii for the first time. Compounds 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14 and 16 showed inhibitory effects on the proliferation of human breast cancer cells MCF-7 by 24.1%, 69.6%, 72.8%, 21.6%, 23.1%, 43.3%, 25.5% and 23.5% (p < 0.05) at a concentration of 10 μM, respectively.

Advances in triterpenoid research, 1990-1994

Triterpenoids isolated and characterized from various sources are reviewed. The newer spectroscopic techniques used in their structure elucidation, the new skeleta characterized, their total chemical synthesis, and their biosynthesis are discussed. A compilation of the triterpenoids isolated during the period 1990-1994 along with their occurrence, physical data, spectroscopy and X-ray analysis used for their characterization, is included. The biological activities of the triterpenoids are also discussed.