The Tibetian folk drug 'Hong Qin Jiao' is the dried roots of Salvia przewalskii MAXIM (Labiatae) which is widely distributed in the northwest of China.1,2) Many bioactive abietane diterpenoids, especially naphthaquinones, have been reported as the main secondary metabolites of this plant. [3][4][5][6] In a continuation of our research work on the diterpenoids from Salvia species, 7) we examined the constituents of S. przewalskii MAXIM collected in Shanggelila of Yunnan province. Two new icetexane diterpenoids, named przewalskin C, D (1, 2), were isolated together with sixteen known diterpenoids.The Me 2 CO fraction of S. przewalskii (whole parts) was subjected to silica gel chromatography to afford two new icetexane diterpenoids trivially named as przewalskin C, D (1, 2) along with sixteen known ones: barbatusol (3), 8) tanshinone I (4), 9) crypotanshinone (5), 10) tanshinone IIA (6), 11) ferruginol ( 8,11,13-icetexantrien-10,11,12-triol (16), 18) danshenspiroketallactone (17), 19) and epi-danshenspiroketallactone (18).19) The identification and structural elucidation of these compounds were based on 1D-and 2D-NMR spectral data analysis.Compound 1 was obtained as an amorphous powder. The molecular formula, C 21 H 30 O 3 , was deduced from the positive high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrum (HR-ESI-MS) ([MϩNa] ϩ m/z 353.2084) and NMR spectra ( Table 1). The IR spectrum displayed the absorption bands due to aromatic ring (1626 cm
Ϫ1) and hydroxyl groups (3440 cm
Ϫ1). The UV spectrum showed the absorption maximum at 240.2 nm (1.85) and 275.4 nm (1.71), indicative of a simple phenolic ring. The 13 C-NMR spectrum showed five methyls (including a methoxyl), four methylenes, five methines (including two olefinic ones and an oxygenated one), and seven quaternary carbons (including six olefinic ones). Considering the structures of the compounds previously isolated from this genus and the formula of 1, along with the characteristic methine signals at d C 27.3 and 43.7 due to C-15 and C-5, respectively, a noticeable quaternary carbon signals at d C 31.7 (C-4), and four characteristic methyl signals at d C 22.6 (C-16, C-17), 27.6 (C-18), and 26.6 (C-19), compound 1 could be ascribed to be an icetexane or abietane diterpenoid. [15][16][17][18] Carefully analysis of the 1D-NMR spectra indicated that compound 1 could be ascribed to be an icetexane diterpenoid by the absence of the characteristic quaternary carbon (C-10) and methyl group (Me-20) for abietane diterpenoids. 8,[16][17][18] A comparison of the 1 H-and 13 C-NMR spectral data of 1 with those of barbatusol (3) indicated that they were strikingly similar except for the presence of a methoxyl group in 1.8) The methoxyl group was located at C-7 on the basis of the heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC) correlations of d (Fig. 1).The ROESY cross-peaks of H-5/H-18, H-5/H-7, and H-7/H-14 established the H-5 and H-7 were both in a-orientation. Accordingly, the structure of przewalskin C (1) was elucidated as 7b-methoxyicetexa-1(10),8,11,13-tetraen...