The chemical constituents from the roots of Aconitum kongboense were studied. Twenty-five diterpenoid alkaloids were isolated from the 95% methanol extract of the roots of A. kongboense by silica gel, reverse-phase silica gel and basic alumina column chromatography. They included a new aconitine-type diterpenoid alkaloid, named as kongboensenine(1), and twenty-four known ones(2-25), i.e., acotarine F(2), acotarine G(3), 14-acetyltalatisamine(4), talatisamine(5), indaconitine(6), yunaconitine(7), chasmanine(8), 6-epi-foresticine(9), homochasmanine(10), 8-deacetyl-yunaconitine(11), chasmaconitine(12), ajaconine(13), franchetine(14), ezochasmanine(15), crassicautine(16), 14-O-deacylcrassicausine(17), genicunine A(18), falconeridine(19), sachaconitine(20), liljestrandisine(21), 8-methyl-14-acetyltalatisamine(22), kongboendine(23), 14-benzoylchasmanine(24) and pseudaconine(25). Their structures were elucidated by common spectroscopic methods including high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(HR-ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) techniques. Compounds 2-4, 10, 13, 15-19 and 21-22 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Experimental results showed that all compounds did not have a significant inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase(AChE).
Keywords: Aconitum kongboense; acetylcholinesterase inhibitor; diterpenoid alkaloid; kongboensenine.