Antimycobacterial and antiplasmodial unsaturated carboxylic acid from the twigs of Scleropyrum wallichianum.

From the twigs of Scleropyrum wallichianum, a new unsaturated carboxylic acid, scleropyric acid (1), two new esters, beta-sitosteryl-3-O-scleropyrate (2) and stigmasteryl-3-O-scleropyrate (3), and two well-known sterols, beta-sitosterol (4) and stigmasterol (5), were isolated and characterized using spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 exhibited antimycobacterial activity with an MIC value of 25 microg/ml and showed antiplasmodial activity with an IC50 value of 7.2 microg/ml. Compounds 2 and 3 were inactive in both assays.