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A new axial chiral binaphtoquinone, hypocrellone (1), and a new perylenequinone, hypomycin F (2), were isolated from the stromata of Hypocrella bambusae, together with five known compounds, 3-7. The structures of 1 and 2 were assigned by spectroscopic and HRESIMS data analyses. The axial chirality of 1 was determined by electronic circular dichroism data analysis, and the absolute configurations of 2 and 3 were determined by X-ray crystallography. The axial chirality of 7 was determined by UV-induced photooxidation from 4. Compounds 1, 4, and 5 showed inhibitory activity against pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 infection in 293T-ACE2 cells with IC50 values of 0.17, 0.038, and 0.12 μM. Compounds 4 and 5 were also active against live SARS-CoV-2 infection with EC50 values of 0.22 and 0.21 μM, respectively. Further cell-cell fusion assays, surface plasmon resonance assays, and molecular docking studies revealed that 4 and 5 could bind with the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 S protein to prevent its interaction with human angiotensin-converting enzyme II receptor. Our results revealed that 4 and 5 are potential SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors.

The Smilax species, widely distributed in tropical region of the world and the warm areas of East Asia and North America, are extensively used as folk medicine to treat inflammatory disorders. Chemical investigation on Smilax species showed they are rich sources of steroidal saponins with diversified structure types, including spirostane, isospirostane, furostane, pregnane, and cholestane. This review mainly summarizes the steroidal saponins (1–104) reported from the genus Smilax between 1967 and 2016, and their biological activities. The relationship between structures of steroidal saponins and related biological activities were briefly discussed. Graphical Abstract

A new triflavanoid, kandelin B-5 (1), was isolated from the rhizomes of Smilax china L., together with six known phenylpropanoid substituted flavan-3-ols (2–7), nine flavonoids (8–16), two stilbenoids (17, 18), and two other compounds (19, 20). The structure of compound 1 was determined on the basis of 1D, 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS data, as well as chemical method. Compounds 2–5, 8–12, 15, 17, and 19 were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity. Only compounds 10, 15 and 17 showed slightly IL-1β expression inhibitory activities on LPS induced THP-1 cells, with inhibition rate of 15.8%, 37.3%, and 35.8%, respectively, at concentration of 50 μg/mL.

A polyketide-derived alkaloid featuring a rotationally hindered C-9–C-9a axial bond and a unique 3,4-dihydro-2H-indeno[1,2-b]pyridine-1-oxide motif, named phomopsol A (1), and a highly oxidized polyketide containing a new 3,5-dihydro-2H-2,5-methanobenzo[e][1,4]dioxepine moiety, named phomopsol B (2), were isolated from the Thai mangrove endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. xy21, together with the known compound 3. The absolute stereostructures of 1–3 were unambiguously established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (Cu Kα). Biosynthetic origins of 1–3 are proposed.

Two new phloroglucinol-coupled sesquiterpenoids, eucalmaidials A and B (1 and 2), were isolated from the juvenile leaves of Eucalyptus maideni, along with eight known macrocarpals (3–10), eucalyptone (11), and three known triterpenoids (12–14). Eucalmaidials A and B represent a new skeleton of phloroglucinol-coupled iphionane. Their structures were elucidated by extensive NMR spectroscopic analysis and theoretical calculation of the 13C NMR chemical shifts. The biosynthetic pathway of 1 and 2 was also postulated. Compounds 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10–14 were evaluated for their antifungal and antibacterial activities. Compound 1 exhibited antifungal activity against Candida glabrata with an IC50 value of 0.75 μg mL−1.

A new dimeric stilbene, gnetifolin P (1), was isolated from the lianas of Gnetum parvifolium, together with seven known compounds 2–8. The structure of compound 1 was determined by extensive NMR and HRESIMS data analyses, and quantum chemical calculations. All the compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity. Compounds 1 and 6 inhibited the expression of IL-1β on LPS induced THP-1 cells with the inhibition rate of 35.78 and 64.67%, respectively, at concentration of 25 μg/mL.

A new cyclodextrin-derived chiral stationary phase (denoted as CDA-CSP) was synthesized by immobilizing mono(6(A)-azido-6(A)-deoxy)-per(p-chlorophenyl carbamoylated) β-cyclodextrin derivative to alkynyl modified silica via click chemistry. This newly prepared CSP shows good enantioseparation performance for six chiral compounds (1-6), such as 4-phenyl-oxazolidine-2-thione, two kinds of aryl alcohols, substituted flavonoids and benzoin, in which baseline separation of Analytes 1-4 was achieved under the experimental conditions. The effects of column temperature, mobile phase pH and content of methanol on the enantioseparation characteristics of CDA-CSP were investigated in detail. Retention factor and resolution for Compound 3 gradually reduced with an increase of column temperature, and a good linear relationship was shown between napierian logarithm of selectivity factor and reciprocal of column temperature. In the pH range from 3.56 to 5.50, a change in pH hardly affected the resolution of Analyte 2. In addition, increasing methanol in the mobile phase resulted in rapid eluting of the analytes from the column in reversed-phase mode. The retention factors for Analytes 1 and 3 significantly decreased and their resolution showed different trends.

High throughput screening of a pre-fractionated natural product library identified 11 active fractions showing ApoE modulation activity. Mass-directed fractionation of one active crude extract from the Australian marine sponge Callyspongia sp. resulted in the isolation of 13 metabolites, including three new bromotyrosine derivatives, callyspongic acid ( 1 ), 3,5-dibromo-4-methoxyphenylpyruvic acid ( 2 ), N -acetyl-3-bromo-4-hydroxylphenylethamine ( 3 ), and ten known compounds ( 4 – 13 ). The structure elucidation of compounds 1 – 3 was based on their 1D and 2D NMR and MS spectroscopic data. 3,5-Dibromo-4-methoxyphenylpyruvic acid ( 2 ) showed weak activity in increasing the apolipoprotein E secretion from human CCF-STTG1 cells at the concentration of 40 μM.