Thirteen novel cycloartane-type triterpenes from Combretum quadrangulare.

Thirteen novel cycloartane-type triterpenes were isolated from Combretum quadrangulare, a Vietnamese medicinal plant. The structures of the novel triterpenes were determined by spectroscopic methods as well as by chemical transformations. Among those compounds, quadrangularic acids F (1), G (2), and H (4) and 24-epiquadrangularic acid G (3) are the first examples of cycloartane-type triterpenes bearing carboxylic acid groups at both C-4 and C-20. Furthermore, norquadrangularic acid A (13) is the first example of a trinorcycloartane-type triterpene isolated from the genus Combretum.