Chemical constituents from Schefflera leucantha R.Vig. (Araliaceae)

Processive phytochemistry and pharmacological investigation of Schefflera leucantha R.Vig. (Araliaceae) led to the isolation of fifteen known compounds: a nucleobase (1), six small aromatic molecules (2–7), three phenylpropanoids (8–10), four lignans (11–14) and a fatty acid derivative (15). Spectroscopic methods were used to establish the structure and configuration of isolates, followed by their unambiguous confirmation with literature data. We report for the first time (to the best of our knowledge), the isolation of β-amino-3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzene-ethanol (4) from a natural source. Furthermore, compounds 1, 5, 9–15 are being reported from Araliaceae family for the first time, whereas compounds 2, 3, 6–8 from the genus Schefflera for the first time. The biological screening results show that compounds 9 and 10 induce a moderate inhibitory effect on aldose reductase, while compounds 3, 5, and 8 display significantly high neuroprotective activities.