Weakly antimalarial flavonol arabinofuranosides from Calycolpus warszewiczianus

Three new flavonol arabinosides (2-4) were isolated from the young leaves of Calycolpus warszewiczianus. The structures were determined as myricetin-3-O-alpha-L-3' '-acetylarabinofuranoside (2), myricetin-3-O-alpha-L-3' ',5' '-diacetylarabinofuranoside (3), and 5-galloylquercetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinofuranoside (4). Molecular structures were elucidated using NMR spectroscopy in combination with IR and MS data. Two known compounds, myricetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinofuranoside (1) and (-)-epi-catechin (5), were also isolated. The compounds were tested in vitro against a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania mexicana, and Trypanosoma cruzi parasites. Compound 4 demonstrated weak activity against a chloroquine-resistant strain of P. falciparum (14.5 microM), whereas none of the compounds demonstrated activity against L. mexicana and T. cruzi at the concentrations of 40 and 50 microg/mL, respectively, and no cytotoxicity was detected against mammalian cells below 100 microg/mL.