Antifungal nitro compounds from skunk cabbage (Lysichitum americanum) leaves treated with cupric chloride.

Two nitro compounds, 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-nitroethane named as lysichitalexin and 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-nitroethane were isolated as stress metabolites from the leaves of Lysichitum americanum Hultén and St. John treated with cupric chloride. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods and chemical reactions. The former compound showed antifungal activities against Fusarium oxysporum and Cladosporium herbarum. Both compounds were isolated for the first time from this species and the former was isolated from natural sources for the first time. This is the first report on stress metabolites from a member of the Araceae.