Styryl-lactones from the stem bark of Goniothalamus arvensis

The fractionation of the methanolic extract of Goniothalamus arvensis (Anno naceae) stem bark led to the isolation of two novel styryl-lactones, arvens in and (+)-2-epi-altholactone. The structures of these compounds, which bel ong to the furano-pyrone group, were established on the basis of mass spect rometry, one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance experiments, a s well as simple chemical derivatization. The relative and absolute configu rations of the compounds are discussed. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Son s, Ltd.