STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION OF 3 TRITERPENOID SAPONINS FROM ALPHITONIA ZIZYPHOIDES USING 2D NMR TECHNIQUES

High-field nmr experiments have been used to determine the structures of three new saponins, zizyphoisides C, D, and E [1-3], isolated from Alphitonia zizyphoides, a medicinal plant found in the Samoan rain for est. The saponins consist of the aglycone, jujubogenin, to which are a ttached three sugar units and an unsaturated side-chain. The three com pounds are similar except for the location of an acetyl group on one o f the sugar units.