Chemotaxonomic aspects of the constituents of the plant Dalbergia tonkinensis

Phytochemical studies on several parts of Dalbergia tonkinensis Prain led to the isolation and determination of one alkaloid 1, thirty flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides 2-31, one sesquiterpene 32 and one phenol 33. The chemical structures of the isolated constituents were determined by analysis of their NMR data and comparison to those of reference compounds. Among the isolated compounds, 3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2-methoxypropanamide (1) is a new compound in literature and it is the only indole derivative isolated from the genus Dalbergia. In addition, new compound 1 and buteaspermanol (14) demonstrate the close relationship among the species of the subfamily Faboideae. Carboxyethylflavanones 18-21 and neroplomacrol (32) could be seen as biochemical markers for the family Fabaceae, whereas naringin (17) and 4-formyl phenol (33) are considerably regarded as chemotaxonomic indicators for the genus Dalbergia. The chemotaxonomic aspects of these metabolites are discussed in detail.