Rhodomyrtone, an antibiotic from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa

The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk. yielded rhodomyrtone (5) [6,8-dihydroxy- 2, 2,4, 4-tetramethyl-7-(3-methyl-1-oxobutyl)-9-(2-methylpropyl)-4,9-dihydro-1H-xanthene-1,3(2H)-dione] which had significant activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The structural elucidation followed from spectroscopic evidence and from a single-crystal X-ray structural determination.