Plant antimutagenic agents, 4. Isolation and structure elucidation of maesol, an inactive constituent of Maesa spp.

Maesol, a novel dimeric phenol, was isolated from seeds of Maesa montana and Maesa indica. Maesol was shown to have the formula C28H42O4 with structure 1, a dimeric, symmetrical 1,12-bis(3,3'-dihydroxy-4,4'-dimethyl-5,5'-dimethoxyphenyl)dodecane. It is the first compound with such structure to be isolated from plant material. Structure elucidation was based largely on 1H- and 13C-nmr techniques and comparison with a known synthetic isomeric dimer 3. Although crude extracts showed strong inhibition of 2-aminoanthracene activity against Salmonella typhimurium (T-98), the pure compound was inactive when tested for inhibition of the mutagenic activity of several mutagens.