Occurrence of a bis-bibenzyl derivative in the Japanese fern Hymenophyllumbarbatum: First isolation and identification of perrottetin H from the pteridophytes

The methanol extract of the Japanese fern Hymenophyllum barbatum was chroma tographed on Sephadex LH-20 and HPLC to give perrottetin H, an acyclic bis- bibenzyl derivative which has been isolated from the liverwort Jubula japon ica. This is the first isolation and identification of bis-bibenzyl from th e pteridophytes. The occurrence of bis-bibenzyl in both pteridophytes and l iverwort is very important in determining the evolutionary ladder of both t errestrial spore-forming green plants.