Three butylphthalide derivatives from the Rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong

Three butylphthalide derivatives were isolated from the Rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong using a series of isolation and purification approaches including macroporous resin, ODS-A column, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. These structures were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic data (UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS and NMR) and identified as (3Z,3aE)-(6R,7R,2'S)-6-hydroxy-7-(2-carboxyl-2-hydroxyethylthio)-3-(2-hydroxybutylidene)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-phthalide (1), (3Z,3aZ)-3-butylidene-6,7-dihydroxy-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-phthalide 7-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-fructo-furanoside (2) and 3-(3-β-D-glucopyranosyloxy-butylidene)-7-hydroxy-phthalide (3).