New prenylated C6-C3 compounds from the roots of Illicium henryi

One new dimeric prenylated C-6-C-3 compound, namely, illihendione A (1), two prenylated C-6-C-3 compounds, illihenryifunone C (2) and illihenryipyranone A (3), and one known dimeric prenylated C-6-C-3 compound, illicidione A (4), were isolated from the roots of Illicium henryi. The structures and absolute configurations of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic and chemical analyses, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD) and a modified Mosher method. Compound 1 exhibited a weak inhibitory ratio for beta-glucuronidase release induced by platelet-activating factor (PAF) in rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNS) in vitro. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Phytochemical Society of Europe. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.