New bioactive steroidal alkaloids from Buxus hyrcana

Phytochemical studies on the crude methanolic extract of Buxus hyrcana, collected from Iran, resulted in the isolation of two new steroidal alkaloids, (+)-O6-buxafurandiene (1) and (+)-7-deoxy-O6-buxafurandiene (2) along with four known steroidal bases, (+)-benzoylbuxidienine (3), (+)-buxapapillinine (4), (+)-buxaquamarine (5) and (+)-irehine (6). The structures of these new and known compounds were established with the aid of extensive NMR spectroscopic studies. Compounds 1 and 2 belong to the rarely occurring class of Buxus alkaloids having a tetrahydrofuran ring incorporated in their structures. Compounds 1–6 exhibited acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibitory activity.