Pterocarpans and 2-arylbenzofurans from Sophora flavescens aiton and their chemotaxonomic significance

Phytochemical investigation of the root of Sophora flavescens Ait. led to the isolation of previously uncharacterized pterocarpan derivative sophoracarpanol A (1), along with eight known compounds, including seven pterocarpans (1-7) and two 2-arylbenzofurans (8 and 9). Their chemical structures were established based on extensive spectroscopic analysis. Among them, compounds 3-5 are the characteristic class of secondary metabolites of S. flavescens. And this is the first report of the presence of compounds 2, 6, and 7 from the genus Sophora and compounds 8 and 9 were firstly isolated from S. flavescens. Furthermore, the chemotaxonomic significance of the isolates was discussed.