New oligomeric neolignans from the leaves of Magnolia officinalis var. biloba

Six new oligomeric neolignans including two trimeric neolignans ( 1 and 2 ) and four dimeric neolignans ( 3 – 6 ) were isolated from the leaves of Magnolia officinalis var. biloba. Their structures were determined based on HR-ESIMS and NMR data, as well as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Compound 1 is formed from two obovatol moieties directly linked to an aromatic ring of the remaining obovatol moiety, which is an unprecedented type of linkage between monomers. All isolates were assessed for their inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Compounds 1 and 3 showed significantly inhibitory activities with IC₅₀ values of 6.04 and 3.26 μmol·L⁻¹, respectively.