Chemical Constituents Of Three Liverworts

The bryophytes are taxonomically placed between the algae and the pteridophytes. Morphologically, they are divided into three classes, liverworts (Hepaticae), mosses (Musci), and hornworts (Anthocerotae). Some species of the bryophytes have been used as medicinal plants to cure cuts, burns, bacteriosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, neurasthenia, convulsions, scalds, and pneumonia. Almost all species of bryophytes are not damaged by insects, mammals, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Bryophytes have yielded various diterpenoids and aromatic compounds with interesting chemical structures and significant biologically activity in the last years.In this research, three Chinses liverworts, Plagiochila pulcherrima and Jungermannia comata collected from Guangxi Province, and Notoscyphus lutescens collected from Yunnan Province were phytochemically investigated. A total of41secondary metabolites, including33diterpenoids,7sesquiterpenoids, and a bibenzyl, were isolated by column chromatography (CC) on silica gel, MCI, C18reversed-phase silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, as well as by HPLC. Nineteen of them were new compounds, including three pimarane-type diterpenoids, two2,3-secoaromadendrane-type sesquiterpenoids, four ent-kaurane-type diterpenoids, and ten dolabrane-type diterpenoids. Their structures were identified on the basis of NMR, MS, and X-ray. This is the first time that phytochemical study on the plant of N. lutescens. The cytotoxicity to human cancer cell lines of the isolated terpenoids from P. pulcherrima was also tested and the mechanism of compound7to Hela cells was related to apoptotis as confirmed by DAPI nuclear staining and flow cytometry.