title: 4-Hydroxybenzyl-substituted amino acid derivatives from Gastrodia elata.
abstract: Seven new 4-hydroxybenzyl-substituted amino acid derivatives (1-7), together with 11 known compounds, were isolated from an aqueous extract of the rhizomes of Gastrodia elata Blume. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compounds 1-3 are pyroglutamate derivatives containing 4-hydroxybenzyl units at the N atom and 4-7 are the first examples of natural products with the 4-hydroxybenzyl unit linked via a thioether bond to 2-hydroxy-3-mercaptopropanoic acid (4-6) and 2-hydroxy-4-mercaptobutanoic acid (7), which would be biogenetically derived from cysteine and homocysteine, respectively. The structures of 1 and 2 were verified by synthesis, while the absolute configurations of 4, 5 and 7 were assigned using Mosher's method based on the MPA determination rule of Δδ RS values. The known compound 4-(hydroxymethyl)-5-nitrobenzene-1,2-diol (8) exhibited activity against Fe(2+)-cysteine induced rat liver microsomal lipid peroxidation with IC50 values of 9.99×10(-6) mol/L.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Qinglan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Chenggen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Zhibo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Chengbo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Huailing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Jiangong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: 4-Hydroxybenzyl- substituted amino acid  derivatives; Gastrodia elata Blume; Inhibitory activity; Orchidaceae; Pyroglutamate deriva tives