Phenolic compounds from the stems of Flickingeria fimbriata

Chemical investigation of Flickingeria fimbriata (Bl.) Hawkes (Orchidaceae) resulted in the isolation and identification of one new dihydrophenanthrene, 1,2,5,6,7-pentamethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (1), together with seven known dihydrophenanthrenes, erianthridin (2), coelonin (3), 4-methoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-1,2,7-triol (4), lusianthridin (5), ephemeranthol A (6), flavanthridin (7) and hircinol (8), four known phenanthrenes, epheranthol B (9), nudol (10), denthyrsinin (11) and confusarin (12), and one known bibenzyl, batatasin III (13). The structure of the new compound was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis (HRMS, 1D and 2D NMR). All the compounds were isolated from F. fimbriata for the first time except for compounds 5 and 12, and compounds 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 and 13 were obtained from this genus for the first time. Compounds 1-4 showed moderate cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells.

9,10-dihydrophenanthrene; Flickingeria fimbriata; Orchidaceae; cytotoxicity.