Two new sesquiterpenoids including a sesquiterpenoid lactam from Curcuma wenyujin

Two new sesquiterpenoids, namely elema-1,3,7(11),8-tetraen-8,12-lactam (1) and 7β,8α-dihydroxy-1α,4αH-guai-9,11-dien-5β,8β-endoxide (2), together with five known analogs were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the rhizomes of Curcuma wenyujin. Their structures and relative configurations were determined on the basis of spectroscopic methods including 2D-NMR techniques. All compounds were tested for the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production. Compound 1 showed the significant inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 9.4 µM.