Chemical Constituents from the Fermented Mycelia of the Medicinal Fungus <i>Xylaria nigripes</i>

Abstract

Abstract Nineteen compounds mainly including pyrrole‐containing alkaloids and phytosterols were isolated from the EtOH extract of the fermented mycelia of Xylaria nigripes , a precious medicinal fungus known as Wuling Shen in Chinese. On the basis of spectroscopic methods, the structures of the new naturally occurring compounds were determined to be (4 S )‐3,4‐dihydro‐4‐(4‐hydroxybenzyl)‐3‐oxo‐1 H ‐pyrrolo[2,1‐ c ][1,4]oxazine‐6‐carbaldehyde ( 1 ), methyl (2 S )‐2‐[2‐formyl‐5‐(hydroxymethyl)‐1 H ‐pyrrol‐1‐yl]‐3‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)propanoate ( 2 ), and 3‐{4‐[(2 R )‐(2,3‐dihydroxy‐3‐methylbutoxy]phenyl}‐7‐hydroxy‐4 H ‐chromen‐4‐one ( 3 ), respectively. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were deduced by the observed Cotton effects in their circular dichroism (CD) spectra, whereas that of the 1,2‐diol moiety in 3 was determined using the Snatzke 's method. Their biological activities such as neuroprotective, anti‐neuroinflammatory, and cytotoxic properties were also reported.