Alkaloids from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. and their chemotaxonomic significance

The phytochemical investigation of Houttuynia cordata Thunb. led to the isolation of nine alkaloids (1‒9). Based on the NMR spectroscopic data interpretation and comparison with the literature values, the structures of the isolates were characterized and subdivided into two aporphines (1 and 2), two aristolactams (3 and 4), four benzamides (5–8), and one pyridine derivative (9). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation of compound 6 (N-benzoyl tyramine) from the family Saururaceae and compound 9 (2,3-dihydroxy-4-(hydroxymethyl)-tetrahydrofuran-l-yl]pyridine-4,5-diol) from plant origin. All the above research results contributed to consolidating the chemotaxonomic knowledge of H. cordata.