Novel sesquilignan and lignan glycoside from the twigs and leaves of Illicium majus

A novel sesquilignan compound (1), possesing an unusual carbon skeleton of aryltetralin unit linked with a C6-C3 unit and a five-membered ring by a C-7 '' and C-4 linkage pattern via an oxygen atom, and a new lignan glycoside (2) have been isolated from the twigs and leaves of Illicium majus. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 are confirmed by observing the circular dichroism. At 10 mu M, Compounds 1 and 2 showed in Vitro inhibitory activity against the release of beta-glucuronidase in rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes induced by platelet-activating factor.