[Studies on the chemical constituents of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr]

An alkaloid and a quassinoid were isolated from the fruit of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr, and were identified as 4-ethoxycarbonyl-2-quinolone (1) and bruceine I (2). Compound 1 was found from natural resource for the first time. The structure of the new compound 2 was elucidated on the basis of spectral data and chemical evidence. Three well known compounds vanillic acid (3), quercetin-3-O-beta-D-galactoside (4), and luteolin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (5) were also isolated. All of them were first reported to occur in the Brucea genus.