Isolation of New Egonol Compounds from Seeds of Styrax japonica Sieb. et Zucc

Five egonol compounds were isolated from the lipids of immature seeds of Styrax japonica Sieb. et Zucc. Two compounds were new and three, known. The structures of the new compounds, EI and DHEG2, were determined to be egonol 2-methylpropanoate, and 5-[3-(β-gentiobiosyloxy)propyl]-2-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)benzofuran (7-demethoxyhomoegonol β-gentiobioside), respectively, based on chemical and spectroscopic analysis. The known compound, 7-demethoxyegonol acetate (DEAc) was first isolated from the natural plants. The other two were identical with egonol 2-methylbutanoate (EMB) and 7-demethoxyegonol 2-methylbutanoate (DEMB), previously reported by the authors.