Macropodumines A-C: novel pentacyclic alkaloids with an unusual skeleton or zwitterion moiety from Daphniphyllum macropodum Miq.

Three novel alkaloids, macropodumines A-C (1-3), were isolated from the stem of Daphniphyllum macropodum Miq. Interestingly, the structure of macropodumine A (1) was characterized as having a fused pentacyclic system including an unusual eleven-membered macrolactone ring, whereas macropodumine B (2) contains a rare cyclopentadienyl carbanion, which is stabilized as a zwitterion by an internal iminium cation. The structures of these new metabolites were established on the basis of their detailed spectroscopic analysis. In particular, the unique structure of zwitterion 2 was further confirmed by using single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.