Chemistry of Saururus cernuus, V. sauristolactam and other nitrogenous constituents

Two aristololactam analogues were isolated from the extract of Saururus cernuus. One of these was the known aristololactam BII [1] (cepharanone B) and the other new, named sauristolactam [2], was shown to be the lactam of 10-aminomethyl-3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenanthrene-1-carboxylic acid. Here we detail the first reported occurrence of compounds of the aristolactam group in the genus Saururus.