Further Triterpenoids of<i>Musanga cecropioides</i>: The Structure of Cecropic Acid

Abstract

Six pentacyclic triterpenic acid methyl esters have been isolated from the methylated ethyl acetate extract of the trunk wood of Musanga cecropioides, as well as a triterpene saponin of the same group. One of them, cecropic acid methyl ester, is new. The structures of these compounds have been established from interpretation of spectral data or chemical transformations. The known triterpenes include euscaphic and tormentic acid methyl esters, already isolated from the root wood of the plant, methyl cecropiaceate, and methyl pomolate, already obtained from the stem bark, and methyl arjunolate and β-D-glucosyl tormentate, encounted in this plant for the first time.