Hepatoprotective aliphatic glycosides from three Goodyera species

Hepatoprotective aliphatic glycosides 3-(S)-3-beta-D-glucopyranosyloxybutan olide (1) and its congener, 3-(S)-3-beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy-4-hydroxybutan oic acid (2) were isolated as major constituents from the whole plants of t hree Goodyera species, G. schlechtendaliana REICHB. fil., G. matsumurana SC HLTR. and G. discolor KER-GAWL. The structures of 1 and 2 have been determi ned by NMR, MS spectroscopic and chemical means, Compound 1 was converted i nto its methyl ester form (5) during the purification step, when the lacton e ring was cleaved by catalysis of silica gel with the CHCl3-MeOH-H2O as a solvent. On the other hand, 1 was obtained in a high yield by the same puri fication procedure without MeOH, Based on this fact, a simple and economic method for the purification of 1 was confirmed, Compounds 1 and 2 were foun d to have a hepatoprotective effect on liver injury induced by carbon tetra chloride in primary cultured rat hepatocytes.