A novel p-coumaroyl dimethyl malate (1) was isolated from the Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf in addition to three known analogs of p-coumaroyl dimethyl malate (2-4), and their structures were elucidated by analysis of the spectroscopic data. The p-coumaroyl malate derivatives were isolated as a mixture of E and Z isomers. To determine the cause of isomerization, the p-coumaroyl malate isolated in this study was synthesized. We concluded that the Z isomer might be an artifact generated from the E isomer through purification steps.
Key words Pandanus amaryllifolius; p-coumaroyl dimethyl malate; isomerizationPandanus amaryllifolius (also known as the Pandan leaf) belongs to the Pandanus genus (Pandanaceae), and grows in Southeast Asia where it is traditionally used while cooking common nonaromatic rice to impart the aroma of cooked rice. 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline was isolated from P. amaryllifolius and is the key aroma compound in cooked rice.1,2) Pandan leaves are also used medicinally in South East Asia for such purposes as refreshing the fatigued body and, reducing fever.3) In addition, their antioxidant activity 4) and antihyperglycemic effects 5) have been reported. Various alkaloids have also been isolated form P. amaryllifolius, [6][7][8][9] and several studies have reported their isolation and structure. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Here, we report the isolation of a novel p-coumaroyl dimethyl malate (1) in addition to three known p-comaroyl malate derivatives (2-4) (Fig. 1). We also describe the possible isomerization of 1 during the purification.
Results and Discussionp-Coumaroyl malate derivatives (1, 2, and 4) and pcoumaric acid (3) were isolated from P. amaryllifolius. Raw P. amaryllifolius leaves purchased in the market were first treated by steam distillation to remove essential oil. After removal of essential oil, the leaves were dried and extracted with methanol (MeOH) under reflux, and organic solvent was removed by vacuum evaporation resulting in MeOH extracts. These extracts were separated by Diaion HP-20 column chromatography and successively eluted with water, 50% aqueous MeOH, MeOH and acetone. The 50% MeOH eluate was separated by gel permeation chromatography using TOSOH Toyopeal HW-40 (F) column, yielding 12 fractions (fr. 2-1 to 2-12). Of them, fr. 2-6 was further subjected to Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography to afford six fractions (fr. 2-6-1 to 2-6-6). Fraction 2-6-2 was purified by reverse phase HPLC to isolate compound 1. Compound 2 was isolated from fr. 2-7 by Sephadex LH-20 chromatography followed by HPLC purification using an octadecyl-silica (ODS) column. Then, fr. 2-9 was fractionated by reverse phase HPLC to give compounds 3 and 4.