Studies on the Constituents of Panacis japonici Rhizoma. II. : The Structure of Chikusetsusaponin IV and Some Observations on the Structural Relationship with Araloside A

Abstract

Examinations were made on the chemical structure of chikusetsusaponin (IV), C47H74-O18·4H2O, mp>235°(decomp.), [α]19D-9.7°(pyridine), a crystalline saponin isolated from the rhizome of Panax japonicum. The structure was established as represented by formula (1) which agrees with the structure of araloside-A proposed by Kochetkov and others, but their direct comparison could not be made. In the present series of work, the compound O (10) was determined by microbial decomposition. In addition, isolation of erythrodiol 2, 3-di-O-methyl-β-D-glucopyranoside by partial decomposition of erythrodiol bioside (3) made it cleasr that L-arabinose makes an α-furanoside bonding with glucuronic acid.