Six new monacolin analogs from red yeast rice

Six novel monacolin analogs, monacolins V₁-V₆ ( 1-6 ), together with seven known ones ( 7-13 ), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of red yeast rice. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic methods, especially 2D NMR (¹H-¹HCOSY, HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY/ROESY) and CD spectroscopic analyses as well as chemical derivation. Mona-colins V₂ ( 2 ) and V₃ ( 3 ) represent the first examples of monacolins with 3-hydroxybutyrate substitute. The anti-inflammatory inhibitory activities against the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced NO production in BV-2 cells as well as antioxidant activities against rat liver microsomal lipid peroxidation were evaluated.